Darkness Falls on the House of Loud
by Trillhouse
Summary: Against her better judgement, Lucy attempts a ritual from an ancient grimoire... with catastrophic results. Now, the Loud siblings find themselves cut off from the world, unable to fight back as an unseen, ever-present force picks them off one by one. Poor Lucy only sought the embrace of darkness... but unwittingly, she may have damned everything she loves to attain it.
1. I - Ritual

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Back again with another story! The inspiration for this one hit pretty suddenly so I decided to get to work right away. Things are a bit different this time around, and not just in terms of genre... while my last two fics only centered on a few principal characters, this one features all of the Loud siblings. Writing scenes featuring so many characters at once proved to be a bit of a challenge, and hopefully I did alright.**

 **Also, I've begun work on the sequel to Prom Night Promise as well. Expect that to start posting... whenever, I dunno. As always, reviews and critique are greatly appreciated!**

* * *

It was just before midnight in the house of Loud. The moon was full and bright. While the other Loud siblings slept peacefully, a tiny figure slunk her way down the hall; silent and unnoticed, as she always was. Carefully, she pulled down the fold-out ladder leading to the attic, hoisting a bag of supplies up with her. Tonight was the night.

Only the faintest hint of a smirk crossed Lucy Loud's pale face; needless to say, she was excited. Pop-Pop had surprised her with the old grimoire last weekend. It had belonged to Great Grandma Harriet, of course… he had found it mixed in with his own things before he moved to the nursing home, and had simply forgotten to give it to Lucy till now. She had never hugged someone so tightly before.

Lucy ran her fingers across the book's leather bindings, cracked and faded by time. She had no way of knowing for sure whether or not the book was authentic, but it certainly _seemed_ old… the cloth pages were worn and frayed at the edges, and the text appeared to be written by hand, primarily in French. Though there was nothing tying it down to a specific point in time, there was enough mention of public executions and the 'meddling inquisition' to place it somewhere around the 15th or 16th century.

The content itself varied wildly, ranging from simple spells, runes, and hexes to the day-to-day musings of its author. Early on, things were fairly normal… most of the text was written in French, dipping into Latin for most of the spells and incantations. But the further Lucy read, the more things became… unusual. The handwriting grew more erratic, at times appearing as though it was hastily scribbled down in a mad frenzy. Sometimes pages were littered with half-thoughts and incomplete ramblings.

Musings on the outside world became less frequent; instead were paranoid ramblings of realms beyond the understanding of man, strange geometries and eternal beings predating the universe itself. Even the language would shift from one page to the next, and sometimes even mid-thought; ranging from French to Latin to Spanish to, as Lucy had discovered, Sumerian. She had spent much of the week at the library, doing her best to translate what she could, sometimes with Haiku's assistance. She had briefly considered asking Lisa for help, but the last thing she wanted was another lecture about how such things were 'nonthenthe' and how her time would be better pursuing scientific studies.

At any rate, it didn't matter… she'd managed well enough on her own. Though the text was faded in some spots, and illegible in others, she was pretty sure she'd been able to guess the missing bits with a decent level of accuracy. As a test, she'd tried out one of the simple luck spells on Thursday, and to her shock she had stumbled across a crisp $20 bill on the walk home from school. The next day, she'd attempted an attraction spell, and after class Rocky pulled her aside and suddenly kissed her. Though these could have simply be coincidences, for her it was proof enough that this grimoire was the real deal.

Which is why, despite her excitement, she still felt a small twinge of apprehension for tonight. Many of the more advanced rituals were far beyond what she was even willing to consider; some simply needed materials she had no way of acquiring, while others went so far as to require sacrifices, human or otherwise. One even required the slow, methodical flaying of a live victim, described step-by-step in horrific detail. It had been enough to bring a chill to even Lucy's cold heart.

But there was one that stood out. One at the very end of the book, at what Lucy could only assume was the height of the author's madness. The text had been difficult to read by that point; in spots it was unclear if they had actually written anything at all, or if they were simply scribbling erratically. But she could make out enough. In essence, she had gathered that it was for 'those who seek the embrace of darkness'. It was… vague to say the least, but it sounded enough like her to pique her interest.

The sigil itself was the most complicated bit; a baffling array of strange geometric shapes within a circle of runes. It took her more than half an hour to draw it on the floor in chalk, and she found herself needing to fix mistakes often. Beyond that, however, the materials needed were simple enough to acquire. Candles, of course… can't have an arcane ritual without candles. Earth from a fresh grave… a trip to the cemetery had taken care of that. Salt? Kitchen. A chalice? She made one from clay during arts-and-crafts. An athamé? Already had it.

Powdered human bone… now that one had been trickier. But, as luck would have it, Lana had a habit of holding on to her baby teeth after they fell out, and Lucy had convinced her to trade for some bubble gum she's picked off the bottom of her shoe. Teeth are technically bones, right? She figured it was close enough, at least. However, there had been one ingredient that had given her pause: the blood of a newborn. This was the first time she had been grateful for Lisa's habit of studying her siblings; she'd managed to 'borrow' a vial of Lily's blood from Lisa's samples. Lily may not be a newborn per se, but it was as far as Lucy was willing to go.

Lucy's heart was pounding in her chest. She was ready; she had everything she needed. The time was right… per the instructions, the ritual needed to be done in the dead of night, beneath a pregnant moon. The fact that a full moon had just so happened to fall on this night gave Lucy a sense that this was _meant_ to happen.

So why did she feel so nervous…?

Lucy gulped as she stood in the soft glow of six candles, placed at each point where the glyphs met the outer circle. She'd come too far to back out now. Drawing in a deep breath, she began. The ritual required few words, thankfully… she'd rather keep this as quiet as possible. First, she paced around the circle counter-clockwise three times, trailing the salt behind her as she walked. Then, back in the opposite direction twice, this time sprinkling the powdered teeth. If her translations were accurate, the circuit was now active.

Next was the hard part; the part she'd been dreading the most. The ritual called for an offering of one's own blood… though Lucy was far from squeamish, she was still a little girl, and she still felt pain. As she knelt before the hand-crafted goblet, she couldn't help but hesitate. Still, she was determined to see this through to the end. With trembling hands, she drew the athamé and pressed the blade against her left palm. She took a deep breath before proceeding; she didn't want to cut too deep. _Just bear it,_ she told herself. _Just imagine it's for Edwin…_ She shuddered in delight at the thought.

With one swift motion, Lucy drew the blade across her palm. The athamé clattered to the floor, and she clutched her bleeding hand as she hissed in pain, fighting back the urge to scream. That had hurt even more than she anticipated, and it took her a moment to get her bearings. She inspected the wound through teary eyes; thankfully, it didn't look too bad. Still, it was bleeding a _lot,_ and she knew she'd have to take care of it quickly. Drawing in a breath, she held her hand above the goblet, wincing as she applied a pit of pressure to squeeze out more blood. Once it was about halfway full, she carefully took the goblet in both hands and raised it towards the sky.

"D-darkness…" She recited softly, "I offer you this. Myself, my blood, my very essence; all that I am. I implore you to guide me." She set the goblet down in the center of the sigil. Lucy swore she could feel an enormous pressure surrounding her, but she pressed on, heart pounding with equal parts excitement and apprehension.

She then opened the vial of Lily's blood and, with her index finger, drew a line from each candle to the goblet in the center. There was only one step left. She got out her bag of earth from the cemetery. One by one, in counter-clockwise order, she used a pinch of dirt to snuff out each candle; she felt as if the air around her grew ever thicker with each candle extinguished, and by the time she reached the last one, her knees were shaking and she was having difficulty standing up.

Lucy was no stranger to darkness. She'd sought solace in it her whole life; while most girls her age were frightened of the dark, she was enraptured by it. This went beyond the literal sense of the term, of course… wherever shadows lie, Lucy was sure to follow. By the time she was five years old, she was already conducting séances regularly in an attempt to communicate with the dead. By age six, she could recite the works of Poe by heart. She had never shied away from the macabre in the past, even as her growing fascination only served to push her peers away. After all, what need had she for friends among the living? She preferred to associate with entities from worlds beyond.

But tonight was different. Lucy had never hesitated in her grim pursuits in the past… even as her sources warned of the risks of occultism, she had never heeded them. She'd heard the tales of séances gone wrong, of demonic possessions and murderous spirits unwittingly released upon the world. To her, these possibilities just added to the thrill. Tonight, however, she found her hand hanging above the last candle, hesitant to release the final bit of earth. Perhaps it was due to the vague nature of the ritual itself; for all she knew, the second she snuffed out the candle she could be eviscerated by some sort of eldritch abomination. Perhaps, somewhere in her subconscious, her more rational side was trying to tell her this was a bad idea.

Despite her reservations, she felt as though a deeper instinct was guiding her. As she swallowed the lump in her throat, she released the last pinch of earth, almost without meaning to… and the final candle was snuffed out. The ritual was complete.

…And yet, nothing was happening.

Lucy frowned, looking down at the sigil before glancing around the room. Well, it was dark, sure… but no more than it had been at the start. She didn't _feel_ any different, either. She picked up the grimoire, looking things over again; had she made a mistake? "Sigh… perhaps Lily _was_ too old after all…" She muttered. "Or maybe it was the teeth…?"

Or, she realized, it could just have been an elaborate practical joke. The author's earlier writings had definitely displayed a sense of humor. 'For those who seek the embrace of darkness'… well, it was certainly dark _now_. And yes, Lucy supposed one could even say she was 'embraced' by it… had this whole thing just been a trick? Had extinguishing the candles literally been the whole point of the ordeal? In all honestly, it was a pretty good prank… were it not for the stinging pain in her hand, Lucy may have even allowed herself a brief chuckle. But now, she was just mad; all that work and nothing to show for it but an injured palm.

"Stupid book…" She grumbled as she slammed the grimoire shut. She walked over to Harriet's chest and opened it, shoving the book inside. "I think that's enough rituals for a while…" She sighed. Though she would never admit it, her wounded pride masked just a hint of relief. "Now then… I guess I'd better clean up this me-"

Suddenly, Lucy was thrown off her feet as the floor lurched beneath her, sending her crashing to the ground roughly. She shrieked as she realized the entire house was shaking violently, as if caught in the middle of a powerful earthquake. Lucy curled into a ball and covered her head with her arms as stacked boxed toppled to the ground, spilling their contents everywhere. She couldn't hear anything but a low, deafening groan, like the roar of wind through a tunnel. Lucy cried out in pain as something hard struck her shoulder; everything was shaking with such intensity that she swore the house was being torn apart around her. She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for her imminent demise as the ceiling came collapsing down on her-

But it never came.

As suddenly as it had begun, the shaking stopped and all was still. Lucy still lay huddled on the floor, her heart racing a mile a minute; she dare not move, as though even the slightest shift of her weight would bring the house crashing down on top of her. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she slowly lifted her head. Everything was completely still. There were no aftershocks, no residual swaying of the house… just stillness. Slowly, carefully, Lucy struggled to her feet, her legs trembling with adrenaline.

The attic was in complete disarray. Nearly every box had been flung about, contents scattered across the room. Lucy silently scanned the carnage as the shock wore off; what _was_ that? An earthquake? A tornado? Regardless, she was alive at least… frightened and sore, but alive. She could hear shouting in the hallway below. No doubt her siblings had been roused by the shaking…

Lucy gasped, snapping herself out of her daze. Her _siblings_. She had to see if they were alright. As quickly as her unsteady legs would allow, she headed for the attic door. Before heading downstairs, however, she ventured one last glance at the sigil on the floor.

Lucy's felt a chill run up her spine.

She sigil was almost entirely untouched. While the attic itself was in near-ruin, the sigil had not so much as a single candle out of place; save for the goblet, which lay on its side. Empty.

Not a drop of Lucy's blood in sight.

* * *

" _Lily!_ " Cried Lori as she burst into the hallway, practically dragging a terrified Leni in her wake. She immediately ran to Lisa's room, and to her relief she could hear Lily's frightened cries from within. Just as her fingers grazed the doorknob, the door was flung open, revealing a shaken Lisa carrying an equally distraught Lily; somehow, both were already wearing hazmat suits. The room seemed to be filled with noxious fumes.

" _Here!_ " Lisa said as she practically shoved the screaming infant into Lori's arms. "Do _not_ under _any_ circumstances enter this room until it is sufficiently decontaminated!" Without another word, Lisa slammed the door shut.

Lori sighed, pulling the mask off of Lily's face. "Shhhh… it's okay, big sis Lori is here…" She cooed, gently rocking Lily in her arms. "Leni, will you _please_ let go and check on the others?!" She snapped at her sister, who was still clinging to her for dear life. Leni only whimpered softly into Lori's shoulder.

"W-we're fine…!" Came the shaky voice of Luan as she opened her door with a trembling hand. "Luna's pretty banged up, but we're okay…"

"Ewww! Lana _barfed_ on me!" Shrieked a shrill voice from the twin's room. A moment later, the door was flung open to reveal a _very_ angry Lola Loud, her pink nightgown splattered with dark green vomit.

"Only because your big butt _landed_ on me!" Replied Lana, pushing her way past her twin sister.

"I do _not_ have a big butt!" Lola screeched.

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do _too!"_

"Do _n-_ "

" _SHUT UP!_ " Cried Lynn as she threw her door open with a slam. She looked frazzled and was shaking a bit; her eyes darted rapidly around the hallway. "Where's Lucy…?"

"I-I haven't seen her," Lori replied, the concern evident in her voice. "Has anyone seen Lucy?" She asked.

"N-no…" Lincoln groaned weakly, leaning against his doorframe. "But did anyone get the number of that truck that hit me…?" Leni gasped and rushed to his side; he had a cut along the side of his head and blood was dripping freely down his face.

"Linky, you're bleeding!" Leni said, gently taking his head in her hands and turning it to inspect the wound more closely. "That looks pretty bad… but nothing that your big sis can't fix~" She took him by the hand and led him to the bathroom.

"O-okay…" Lori sighed in relief as Lily began to settle down, rubbing the baby's back softly. "Okay. Let's all calm down, alright? First of all, has anyone seen Lucy?"

"I'm here," Came a reply from the end of the hall, making everyone jump; at some point Lucy had slunk her way back down from the attic, unnoticed as per usual.

"Geeze, Luce… don't scare us like that!" Lynn said, doing her best to sound casual as she gave her sister a playful punch on the arm. "I was- _whoa._ " Lynn gasped as she took Lucy's hand. "What happened to you?!"

"O-oh, I must have cut it on something when I fell…" Lucy lied. In all the chaos, she had forgotten about the gash on her palm.

"Pretty gnarly, sis," Lynn cringed as she took a closer look. "Bet it'll leave a bitchin' scar though."

"Lynn, language." Lori scolded. "Alright… is anyone else hurt?" The twins shook their heads.

"Negative," came a response from Lisa's room.

"U-um…" Luan stammered, biting her lip and glancing back into her bedroom. "Lori," she gulped, "Maybe… maybe you should come take a look. It's… she's pretty bad…"

Lori felt a knot in her stomach. "O-okay. Lynn, take Lily, please…"

"Right. Heyyy there lil' buddy," Lynn said as Lori passed the infant to her. "Can I get a smile?" She asked as she tickled her sister's belly, forcing a giggle. "Heh, there we go."

"I wanna see too!" Lana whined as Lori entered Luan and Luna's room, only to be silenced by a harsh glare from her oldest sister. "T-though… out here's cool too, I guess…"

Lori froze as she laid eyes on the room; it was in terrible shape, with many of Luna's instruments lying in pieces on the floor. Most shockingly, the entire bunk bed had toppled onto its side. Lori instantly realized that Luna must have been on top of it when the quake hit. "Luan, where-"

Luan silently pointed to the beanbag chair at the end of the room. Lori hadn't even noticed her lying there at first; Luna was huddled into a ball, trembling and clutching her left hand to her chest. "Luna…?" Lori asked, carefully stepping over the debris on the floor as she approached her sister. "Luna, are you okay?"

"No no no no no no…" Luna muttered under her breath, the pain evident in her voice. She jumped as Lori touched her shoulder, as though she hadn't heard her calling out to her. As she turned to face her, Lori winced as she saw the large purple knot forming on Luna's forehead. "O-oh… hey, Sis... everyone good?"

"They're fine… Luna, what happened?" She asked. Luna bit her lip, looking away. "Luna," Lori repeated a bit more forcefully, "Show me."

Luna sniffled. Carefully, she uncovered her left hand, and Lori couldn't help but yelp in shock. Save for her thumb, all her fingers had been crushed; they were broken and twisted at odd angles, and had begun to swell up. "Y-yeah… sucks, right? Got smashed under the bed…" Lori could hear the heartbreak in her voice. She knew fully well what this meant; with her fingers broken like this, she couldn't play the guitar.

"Oh, God… h-here, let me see." Gently as she could, she took Luna's hand and looked it over. Luna grit her teeth in pain with even the slightest touch. "It… it can be fixed, I think." Lori said. Honestly, she'd seen Lynn bounce back from far worse… still, she knew how much music meant to her sister. Even a few months without being able to rock out would be like torture to her.

"Well, hey," Luan began, chuckling nervously, "At least you finally got that big _break_ you've been waiting for… get it?" Lori looked unimpressed, but thankfully Luna managed a small smirk.

"Bite me arse, luv." Luna replied in her best British accent. Lori sighed and helped her younger sister to her feet.

* * *

"Theeeere we go~" Leni said as she finished bandaging Lucy's hand. Lucy frowned as she looked at it; Leni had tied it into a girlish ribbon. "Oh, like, I almost forgot the most important part!" She giggled before kissing it, to Lucy's chagrin.

"…Please stop this." Lucy deadpanned, her cheeks slightly red. Being fawned over like this always embarrassed her, though perhaps she liked it a bit more than she let on.

"Are mom and dad back yet?" Asked Lincoln, his own wound already patched up by Leni.

"Not yet," She frowned, shaking her head sadly. Their parents had gone to an adults-only party and, given their propensity for partying a little _too_ hard, chances are they wouldn't be back till the wee hours of the morning. "I hope they come home soon…"

Lincoln's heart sank a bit. That had been a pretty strong earthquake… their parents might have been hit too. Leni could tell he was worried; she was too, of course, but at times like these she needed to be brave for her younger siblings.

"Don't worry, Linky." Leni said with a warm smile, booping her brother on the nose. "Lori will totes keep us safe till we get back~" Lincoln couldn't help but smile a bit. "Now come on, let's see how everyone else is doing." She took Lincoln's hand and let him back out to the hallway. Lucy, however, remained behind, glancing down at her bandaged hand with a deep frown.

Back in the hallway, Lori, Luna and Luan had rejoined the others. For the time being, Luna's hand was wrapped loosely in one of her shirts.

"Are you okay, Luna?" Asked Lincoln, the concern evident in his voice.

"I will be… just got a bit smashed up, Lil' Dude." Luna smiled, ruffling his hair with her good hand.

"Is it gross?" Lana asked with a hint of excitement. "Can I see?"

"Guys, quiet for a second." Lori said, trying to make a call, only to click her tongue in frustration as it failed. "No service. Literally fantastic… how about you guys?"

"Ooh, let me check~" Said Leni, flitting back to her bedroom. A few seconds later she came back out with it, frowning. "…Nopesies."

"Think mine's buried under all that junk," Luna sighed.

"Same," Luan grumbled.

"No service for me either!" Lynn walked out of her room carrying Lily at arm's length, her face scrunched up in disgust. "Lily needs a change, though."

"Great," muttered Lori. "Just great."

"That was so _cool_ though!" Lola said with a grin. "I always wanted to survive an earthquake."

"Earthquake? _Preposterous._ " Lisa lisped from her bedroom. She creaked open the door and peered out, still clad in her protective wear. "I consistently monitor all seismic activity in the region. If that had been an earthquake, one of my seismometers would undoubtedly have picked up _something."_

"Well, Einstein, if it wasn't an earthquake then what _was_ it?" Lynn asked sarcastically.

Lisa frowned. "Firstly, Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist, not a seismologist. Secondly… I'll have to get back to you on that." She said before ducking back into her room.

"Come to think of it…" Luna began, scratching her chin. "Been pretty quiet outside, hasn't it? No dogs barking, no car alarms, nothing…"

"Wait… dogs… where's Charles…?" Lana asked, suddenly looking very worried. "W-wait," she gasped. "My _babies!"_ She darted back into her room in a panic.

"W-well, what are we supposed to do now?" Luan asked. "I mean, we need to get Luna to the hospital…"

"What about Mommy and Daddy?" Squeaked Lola. "Are they okay?!"

"Guys-" Lori began.

"W-what if things get all shaky and loud again?" Leni asked nervously.

"Lori, where are Mommy and Daddy…?" Lola whined again, her eyes beginning to well up with tears.

" _I can't find my babies!_ " Lana shrieked from her room.

"Well, we can't just wait around here… we should go find some help!" Said Lynn. Lily was starting to cry again, perhaps from all the shouting, or perhaps from the dirty diaper.

"Guys, _please-"_

"Maybe we can drive to the hospital?" Lincoln chimed in.

"No use," Luna sighed. "The 'rents took Vanzilla, remember?"

"Somebody rented Vanzilla?!" Leni gasped.

"No, Dude…" groaned Luna. "I mean Vanzilla's not here."

"L-Lori…" Lana whimpered from her doorway. "I can't find my pets…"

" _I-I want Mooooooom-_ "

" _QUIET!_ " Lori screamed, silencing her siblings; even Lily stopped crying. " _Quiet._ " She hissed again, putting her finger to her lips for emphasis. One by one she glared at them, as if daring them to make a peep. "Good. Now, listen. We're all a bit freaked out right now, but we can't lose our heads. We still have power. Nobody's seriously injured. We're literally going to be _okay._ " She said. "Now, here is what we are going to do. Lynn, you are going to go change Lily."

"But-"

"Go. Change. Lily." Lori repeated sternly, shooting her sister a no-nonsense glare. " _Now._ "

"You're the Boss," Lynn scoffed, heading off with Lily.

"You two," She said, pointing to the twins. "Put on some clean clothes. No fighting. Got it?" The two sniffled and nodded before heading back into their room. "The rest of you go to the living room and wait for me. Nobody do _anything_ until I say so. Do I make myself clear?" Her siblings mumbled in approval and filed downstairs; they knew better than to question Lori when she was in boss-mode.

"I'll be along shortly," Lisa said from her room. Lori figured it best to let the prodigy do what she had to, and headed into her own bedroom. As she shut the door behind her, Lori rested her back against it and slid to the floor, letting out a long sigh. Alone at last, the oldest Loud sibling took a moment to compose herself.

In truth, the quake had terrified her. The violent shaking, the horrible noise… she'd thought for sure that she was going to die. Part of her wanted to curl into a ball and cry, but there was no time for that. She was in charge, and she had to be strong for her sisters and brother… no matter how scared she was.

Compared to Luna and Luan's room, the bedroom she shared with Leni was relatively sparse. Still, it was in complete disarray; what seemed to be the entirety of the closet's contents had spilled out onto the floor, and Leni's fabrics had been scattered everywhere. Lori cringed, already dreading the daunting cleanup that awaited them, but she put it out of her mind for now. She snatched up some clothes from the floor and got changed before returning to the hallway, just as the twins came out of their room in a fresh pair of pajamas.

Well, at least _Lola's_ was probably fresh.

"Okay. Downstairs, you two." Lori said. Lola huffed in response and stormed down the stairs; Lana, however, remained where she was. "Lana, did you hear me?" Lori said a bit more forcefully. "Go on."

Lana frowned, glancing back into her room. "L-Lori… I can't find them." She said in a small voice, sniffling softly. "I can't find any of them…" She bit her lip as her eyes started welling up with tears.

Lori's expression softened. She didn't particularly care for creepy crawly things, but she knew they meant the world to her younger sister… and she was as worried for them as anyone would be for a beloved pet. Lori knelt down, smiling gently. "Come here, Lans." Lana practically ran into her big sister's arms, whimpering quietly into her chest. "It's okay… I bet you they're just hiding. They'll probably all come back out when they get hungry." Lana sniffed and looked up at her sister with teary eyes. "I'll tell you what. If they're not back by tomorrow night, I'll help you find them. Deal?"

"Y-you promise…?"

"Cross my heart."

Lana wiped her eyes before giving a small smile and nodding. "O-okay… thanks, Lori."

Lori smiled, ruffling her hair. "Now go downstairs with the others, okay?" With a nod, Lana dashed down the steps. Lori sighed softly; in all honestly, she had no idea whether Lana's pets were okay or not. Either way, she planned to keep her word.

"Ugh, what a proverbial pan in the posterior that was…" Came the unmistakable lisp of Lisa as she stepped out of her room, covered in sweat from her hazmat suit. "That is the last time I purchase beakers off of _Amazon._ Clearly an inferior quality glassware… though I suppose that's the price I pay for attempting to be frugal." She said as she wiped her glasses on the hem of her shirt. "That was easily the third worst toxic spill I've had to deal with this month."

"Speaking of toxic spills," Lynn grumbled as she exited the bathroom, a freshly-changed Lily in her arms, "You owe me for that one, Lori."

"Poo-poo!" Lily giggled happily.

"Yes, Lily. Poo-poo." Lynn sighed.

* * *

Downstairs, the other Loud siblings were gathered in the living room as instructed. The TV had fallen during the quake, but it was undamaged; nonetheless, there was no signal. Lincoln emerged from the kitchen with a glass of water and two tablets of aspirin. "Here, Luna…" He said as he approached her, slumped down at the end of the couch.

"Thanks, Dude…" She said gratefully, wincing as she held an ice pack to the knot on her head. "Think you could, uh…" Without needing further instruction, Lincoln popped the pills into her mouth and held the water to her lips for her to drink. She downed the whole glass in one go. "Thanks, Linc. Seriously." She smirked at him weakly. Lincoln frowned as he looked at his sister; even though she was trying to act herself, he'd never seen her in so much pain. She was slightly pale and dripping with sweat, and each subtle movement of her hand seemed to send fresh waves of agony up her arm.

"Wow… it's, like, really dark outside…" Leni murmured as she looked out the window.

"It's nighttime, Leni," Lori replied as she descended the stairs with the remaining sisters in tow. "It's supposed to be dark."

"Yeah but like, it's _really_ dark," Leni repeated, glancing back at her sister. "Like… like _super_ dark."

Lori cocked an eyebrow before walking over and taking a look for herself. "…Huh." Leni wasn't wrong; it was very, _very_ dark. Darker than she had ever seen, in fact. The ground was only visible for about fifteen feet or so… after that, everything just faded away into pitch-blackness. There were no stars, no moon, no lights in the distance… just _nothing._ "That's… that's _really_ dark," She agreed.

"So what do we do?" Luan asked.

"You guys tried the house phone?"

"Yep," Lincoln sighed. "No luck."

"Damn," Lori grumbled. "Who's got the time?"

"I do~" Leni chirped, pulling out her phone. "It's… um… iiiit's…" She stammered, narrowing her eyes at the screen.

"…One…." Began Lincoln, looking over her shoulder.

"Oh! Thank you, Linky. One… thir-thirty…."

"C'mon, Leni. Almost got it."

"One… one thirty-teen!" Leni said excitedly, apparently proud of herself. Lincoln smacked his palm to his forehead.

"…It's one thirty-five." He muttered under his breath. "Let her have this one."

Lori frowned. There was no telling when their parents would get home… assuming they were in any condition to do so. She forced the morbid thought aside; right now there were more pressing matters to deal with. Luna was in bad shape… even if her injuries weren't life-threatening, she was still in a lot of pain. "Luna," she asked, "How're you holding up?"

"Never better," Luna quipped, smirking through the pain. "Barely feel a thing."

"I guess you could say tonight's been a _smashing_ success!" Luan said with a grin. "Get it?"

"…Don't push it, brah." Grumbled Luna.

Lori sighed. "…Alright." Lori said. "Leni, you're in charge till I get back."

"Huh…" Leni blinked. "But… you're totes here already."

" _Leni._ " Lori groaned. "I'm going out to get help."

"You're going…?" Leni whimpered. "But... but what if the shaky-shake comes back?!"

"You're a big girl, Leni. You can handle it." Lori responded. "I trust you,.

"…Okay." Leni murmured softly, fidgeting slightly. Lincoln gave her a hug.

"Don't worry, Leni." He said with a smile, "I'll protect you."

Leni giggled. "You always do, Linky~"

"Be careful out there," Luan warned. "The ground could be all torn up from the earthquake."

" _Not an earthquake,_ " Lisa chimed in.

"Want me to come with?" Offered Lynn.

" _No,_ " Lori said sternly. "Nobody else is to leave this house, do you understand me? _"_

"…Fine." Lynn huffed.

"I'll be back soon," Lori assured them, pulling on her jacket. As she opened the door, she couldn't help but shudder slightly… God, how could it be so dark outside? Somehow, she couldn't help but feel that it was darker than it had been just a few minutes ago… but surely that was just her imagination. "W-well… see you in a bit." She said to her siblings, receiving reluctant grunts in response.

" _Wait!_ " A voice cried out, making everyone jump. It was Lucy; again, nobody had even noticed her appearance. She ran up to Lori, seeming uncharacteristically anxious.

"Lucy…? What wrong?" Asked Lori, a bit rattled; it was unlike the goth to scream like that.

"Lori…" Lucy muttered in an unusually sincere tone, fidgeting nervously with the bow on her bandage. "Please… please don't. You can't go out there."

Lori's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Lucy… are you worried about me?" She asked, a gentle smile on her face. "Don't be. I'm literally just headed next door."

"Lori, I'm _serious…_ " Lucy continued, the fear evident in her voice. "I-if you go out there, something terrible is going to happen… I _feel_ it." She looked up at her sister desperately. _Please,_ she thought, _just this once, listen to me._

Lori chuckled and patted her younger sister's head. "You're just a bit shaken up, Lucy. We all are. Go sit down with the others, okay? I'll be back before you know it." And with that, Lori made her exit, shutting the door behind her.

"Lucy, come here." Leni said sweetly, patting the couch beside her. "Big sis will keep you safe till Lori gets back~"

But Lucy didn't listen. Instead she watched sadly through the window as Lori got out her phone, switching on the flashlight and cautiously walking into the darkness. She wanted to scream for her to come back, but she knew Lori would not listen. She wanted to run after her and drag her back in, but she could not bring herself to do so.

For the first time in her life, Lucy was afraid of the dark.

Deep down, she knew. She felt it in her gut. Whatever that ritual had done… she already regretted it. The 'earthquake' had only been the start… something very, very bad was about to happen, and it was all her fault.

So as she watched Lori disappear into the pitch-black night, try as she may to tell herself that everything would be alright… she couldn't. Somehow, she knew.

She knew that she would never see her sister again.


	2. II - Descent

When Lori hadn't returned after ten minutes, nobody thought anything of it.

After fifteen minutes, some started to worry… Luna assured them that everything was fine, and she had probably gotten caught up with something.

After thirty minutes, however, things were starting to grow tense.

"This is ridiculous!" Lynn cried in annoyance. "She was just going next door, right? Something must have happened to her!"

"We don't know that," Luan replied calmly, though the concern was evident in her voice. "Maybe someone else needed help? Mr. Grouse _is_ an old man, after all… he could have gotten hurt." The others grunted in approval; it was certainly _possible._

"Even so," continued Lynn, " _Someone_ should go look for her."

"Lori said to stay here," Lincoln reminded her with a frown.

"If you haven't _noticed,_ Lincoln," Lynn scoffed, "Lori _isn't here._ She said Leni was in charge, remember?" Lynn glanced over at her older sister, who was gently rocking a fussy Lily in her arms. "Leni, you agree with me, right?"

"U-um…" Leni mumbled softly, a nervous frown plastered across her face. "…I think we should stay put, like Lori said."

"Wow, what a shocker." Lynn grumbled sarcastically. "What about Luna, then? Is she just supposed to wait for Lori all damn night?!"

"I'm fine, dude." Luna sighed. In truth, she was feeling a lot better; though her broken fingers were still in a lot of pain, the aspirin had worked wonders in dulling it down to manageable levels. "Just chill, okay…?"

"Luna's right," Lincoln agreed. "Freaking out isn't going to solve anything. Lori can take care of herself… I'm sure she's fine. Besides, it's only been…" He picked up Leni's phone and pressed the button; however, to his confusion, the time still read 1:35. "…Huh. Guess the clock froze…"

"Am I seriously the _only one_ that thinks that something's up?!" Lynn asked, looking around the room for some sign of support; however, everyone seemed to be avoiding eye contact. "…Nobody…?"

"Lynn," Luan chimed in softly, "You need to relax."

Lynn grit her teeth in frustration. "Well, screw you guys, then." She spat. "I'm going to find her." With that, she headed over to the door.

"Lynn, stop!" Lincoln pleaded, grabbing Lynn by the arm. "We need to stick together!"

"It could be dangerous out there!" Lola cried.

"All the more reason we should be looking for Lori! And if you _cowards_ don't want to help me, then suit yourselves!" She wrenched her arm from Lincoln's grip and turned to the door...

…Only to find Lucy blocking her path.

"Move, Luce." Lynn grunted, but Lucy simply shook her head. "I said _move._ "

"N-no." Lucy stammered. "Lynn, you can't leave."

" _Move!_ " Lynn shouted, pushing her sister aside harder than was necessary. Just as her hand touched the doorknob, Lucy suddenly hugged her around the waist, trying with all her might to pull her sister away.

"You _CAN'T!_ " Lucy begged as Lynn struggled against her grip. "Not again, _please!_ " Lucy was in near-hysterics, giving her enough strength to actually hold back the athlete.

"Dammit, Lucy, let _go!_ " Lynn hissed, finding herself actually needing to put forth effort to pull free from her sister. As she pulled at Lucy's arms, she inadvertently squeezed the girl's injured hand, making her cry out in pain and loosen her grip; Lynn slipped free, but the momentum sent her crashing headfirst into the door. Lynn hit the ground with a groan.

"Omigosh! Are you two okay?!" Leni cried, setting Lily on the couch before rushing over to the pair. "Lynn, are you hurt…?" She asked with concern, offering her little sister a hand. Lincoln ran over too, hoisting Lucy to her feet.

"What the _hell_ is up with you, Lucy?!" Lynn snapped, swatting aside Leni's hand and glowering at the goth. "You've been acting nuts all night!"

"Y-you…" Lucy whimpered, "You can't go, Lynn. None of you can go. We need to-"

"What we _need_ to do is go find Lor-"

" _Lori's not coming back!_ " Lucy cried out suddenly, making Leni gasp; the others simply just stared at her in shock. The silence was deafening.

"…Lucy." Leni said at last with a trembling, yet stern voice. "Don't say that."

"She's not..." Lucy muttered sadly. "She's not coming back. A-and if anyone goes after her, they're not coming back either…"

"L-Lucy," Lola whined from the couch, clinging to an equally-shaken Lana. "You're scaring us."

"Y-yeah, Luce…" Luan stammered. "Now ain't the time for that kind of talk, you know?"

"I'm serious-"

" _Lucy,_ that's enough-" Leni began.

"Guys, please." Lincoln interrupted. "Lucy," He began in the most comforting tone he could, putting an arm around his frightened sister. "What are you talking about?"

"I-I just… I feel it." Lucy said softly, staring at the floor. "She's gone. I tried to stop her…"

"Lucy…" Lisa chimed in, her serious tone betrayed by her ever-present lisp. "Do you, perhaps… know something you're not telling us?"

Lucy bit her lip before giving a small, barely-noticeable nod. "I… I did something."

Lincoln frowned. "What?"

Lucy swallowed. "I was… right before the earthquake, I was in the attic." She sniffled softly. "I-I was doing a ritual-"

"Okay, that's it, I'm out." Lynn huffed, throwing her hands in the air. Lucy could hear everyone else let out a sigh of relief as well; Lincoln even had to stifle a small laugh.

"N-no, listen to me!"

"Shut it, Lucy. I'm not in the mood for bullshit!" Lynn snapped angrily.

" _Lynn!_ " Leni gasped.

"You shut it too, Leni!" Lynn growled. "If you're not going to help me look for Lori, then just stay the _hell_ out of my w-"

"Lynn, that is _enough!_ " Leni shouted at the top of her lungs, face red with anger. Lynn's voice died on her lips; she'd never heard her gentle sister scream like that before. Leni leaned forward, giving the sporty Loud the fiercest glare she could muster. "That. Is. _Enough._ " She repeated, her voice low and assertive. "You are going to stay here. You are going to wait for Lori like the rest of us. And, most importantly, you are going to keep your mouth _shut_ until I say so. Do I make myself clear?"

The rational part of Lynn's brain told her to say yes. But Lynn was nothing if not a rebel, and she did _not_ like to be pushed around. She only barely tolerated it with Lori, but _Leni?_ Airheaded, ditzy Leni? Lynn scowled, indignant rage bubbling up from her gut. "Y-you think I'm gonna take orders from a _retard?!_ " She snapped back, the words leaving her mouth before she could even think them through.

Silence.

Lynn instantly regretted opening her mouth. Seven pairs of wide eyes stared at the two, mouths agape; even Lily seemed to realize that Lynn had said something very, very bad. "Dude…" Luna muttered in shock under her breath.

Leni's mask of authority slipped, but she didn't look angry, nor did she cry. She simply stared at Lynn with downcast eyes, her lips parted slightly. She bit her lip slightly and averted her gaze. "I think…" Her voice cracked, lacking the edge it had just moments before. "…I think you'll take orders from your sister." Without another word she walked back to the couch, scooped up Lily, and sat down.

Lynn swallowed. She could feel the judgmental eyes of her siblings on her as she stared at the floor. She wanted to apologize, but the words wouldn't come. What could she say, really? She'd crossed the line. Lynn turned on her heel and ran past Lincoln and Lucy, up the stairs, and into her room, slamming the door behind her.

The tension in the living room was so thick it could be cut with a knife; it was Luna who first broke the silence. "…'Scuse me." She said, the fury in her voice evident, ignoring the pain in her hand as she got to her feet and stormed upstairs. A moment later, Lynn's door opened and slammed again, followed by muffled shouting from within.

"U-um…" Luan stammered, only to receive a cold glare from Lincoln, as if _daring_ her to make a joke. "Leni, are you-"

"It's fine." Leni replied flatly, focusing her attention on the baby in her arms. "Lincoln?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I think Lily's hungry," Leni said in a quiet voice, not wanting to upset the infant any further. "Can you, like, heat up some formula for me?"

Lincoln gave a small nod. "Sure thing, Leni."

"I'll join you," Lisa said as she hopped off the couch. "This is all getting too emotional for my tastes." As the two walked into the kitchen, Leni turned her focus to Lucy, who was still standing near the door with a nervous, frightened expression.

"Lucy," Leni said, forcing a gentle smile. "Come here." She patted the space next to her. Lucy hesitated briefly before shuffling over and taking a seat next to her big sister. "I know you're scared," Leni began, putting an arm around the girl's shoulder and pulling her into a hug, which she didn't resist. "We all are. But it's totes going to be okay, I promise. Lori will be back soon, I'm sure of it."

"But…" Lucy muttered. "But the ritual…"

"Shhh. I'm sure that was totes just a co… ca…"

"Coincidence?" Offered Luan.

"Yeah, one of those." Leni smiled sweetly. Lucy leaned into Leni's side; she wasn't convinced, but right now the girl's warm embrace soothed her somewhat. She could only hope that her sister was right.

* * *

Lincoln retrieved a bottle of formula from the fridge while Lisa sat at the table, munching on a chocolate bar. "You shouldn't be eating sweets at night, you know." He scolded her with a frown.

"I eat when I'm stressed, brother," She replied. "And you are the last person that should be giving dietary advice."

 _Fair enough,_ he figured as he fished a measuring cup from the cabinet. "So, Lisa… do you have any idea what's going on here?"

"…No." Lisa mumbled through a bite of chocolate before swallowing. "But I'm just as troubled as you are."

"What about what Lucy said…?"

" _Lincoln,_ " Lisa scoffed, "I am a scientist. I operate within the realms of logic and reasoning, not paranormal quackery." She cleared her throat. "That said… it is clear that Lucy, at least, believes there to be a correlation between her childish games and the phenomenon we experienced earlier. I would like to assuage her concerns as soon as possible, if nothing else."

As he filled the measuring cup with water, Lincoln couldn't help but smile. She didn't show it much, but there was no doubt Lisa loved her family just as much as any of the others did. He opened the microwave and placed the measuring cup inside, set it to a minute, and pressed 'start'.

"If I were, however, to wager a guess," she continued, "Given the unusually low level of light outdoors, I believe we may be experiencing some sort of unknown meteorological event."

"Huh…" Lincoln muttered, glancing out the window. He could see absolutely nothing; not so much as a single light in the distance. It was if someone had simply covered the window with black paint. "Come to think of it, did it get darker…?"

"Preposterous," Lisa huffed, hopping down from her seat and walking over. She stood at his feet awkwardly for a moment before clearing her throat again. "…Assistance, please." Lisa mumbled, her cheeks flushed slightly.

"Oh… right." Lincoln picked her up and set her down on the countertop. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she looked out the window, darting about as if trying to find a single speck of, well, _anything_ besides darkness.

"Hold on to me," Lisa ordered as she slid open the window, barely giving her brother time to grab onto her legs before she leaned her entire upper body out. She looked to her left, then to her right. Nothing. Everything beyond the window was pitch black; she could only faintly make out the outer wall of the house, and even that trailed off into darkness after a few feet. She pulled herself back inside and shut the window. "…Curious." She muttered. "Very, very curious."

Lincoln was about to ask what she meant, when a bubbling sound turned his focus to the microwave. The measuring cup was boiling over. " _Whoa!_ " he yelped, quickly flinging the door open, shutting the microwave off. "That was close…"

"Lincoln," Lisa sighed, "A container of that size needs no more than a minute to reach optimal temperature. Surely you know that."

"Of _course_ I know," Lincoln grumbled. "Darn thing's acting up again. See?" He pointed to the display; indeed, he had set the time to a minute. However, it seemed to have failed to count down, letting the microwave run indefinitely.

"…S-so it would seem…" Lisa muttered in confusion. _Odd,_ she thought. While Lincoln tended to the measuring cup, Lisa waddled down to the other end of the counter and picked up a chicken-shaped kitchen timer. She turned it halfway, hearing the clockwork ticking into place, and then… nothing. The dial remained in place. She was able to turn it back manually, hearing the familiar 'ding' as it returned to its starting position. She idly chewed her thumb in thought. "…Lincoln." She said quietly. "When you looked at Leni's cellular device earlier, you said that the clock had 'frozen'?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah." Lincoln sighed as he placed the formula bottle into the hot water to warm it. "Why?"

Lisa frowned. Her eyes flicked up to the wall clock; it, too, was completely still. _An electro-magnetic pulse, perhaps…? No, no… that would have disabled electronic devices entirely…_ She swallowed. "My apologies, Lincoln," She said, hopping to the floor. "But I have to take my leave. There are some things I must look into."

"Lisa…?" Lincoln felt a lump forming in his throat as he picked up the tension in her voice. "Did you… figure something out?"

"Not yet. But there are… several avenues I need to explore." Lisa mumbled. "If you see anything out of the ordinary, let me know. In the meantime, I'm sure it goes without saying, but… don't go outside."

"O-okay… but why?"

"Just a hunch," Lisa stated plainly. "…For now." She added, before scurrying out of the kitchen.

There was no doubt that _something_ was amiss, and Lincoln couldn't help but feel a vague sense of dread overtaking him. He was worried about Lori, worried about his parents… worried about _them._ He swallowed, forcing down his fears for the time being. For now at least, they were safe, and they were _together._ His sisters were scared enough already; he'd need to put on his best game face for their sake, at least.

Though the longer Lincoln stared out the window into the darkness, he could feel something _else_ creeping up within him, beyond the fear. Not an urge, nor an overwhelming thought, but _there;_ much like how one might look down from a great height and consider, very briefly, that perhaps they should jump off.

The desire to go outside.

* * *

Leni hated being in charge. She was a nurturer… she could play 'Mom' better than any of the sisters, and perhaps even better than Rita herself. But when it came to leadership, that had always been Lori's forte.

Leni didn't like to raise her voice. She didn't like to be loud, or stern, or to throw her weight around the way Lori did. Admittedly, Lori could be downright tyrannical at times, but she at least knew how to maintain _order._ But Leni… she was a pushover, and she knew it. The few times she had been left in charge, things had devolved into pure chaos. Her parents learned to stop asking by then; if Lori wasn't available, Luna would be next in line. She, at least, could lay down the law when she needed to be. Tonight, however, Leni _had_ to be in charge. Luna was injured, after all.

And yet, that injured girl was upstairs, standing up for her. Even muffled by Lynn's door, she could hear Luna's furious admonishments; 'How could you say that to her,' She cried. 'We're all stressed out right now, but that's no excuse'. She even heard Luna use a few choice words herself that she was sure Lori would disapprove of; she reminded herself to chastise her sister later. She already knew that she wouldn't. She couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief when the shouting finally stopped.

Leni understood that Lynn was on edge right now, as they all were. In truth, part of her had even agreed with Lynn… she did want to go out and look for Lori. But she couldn't be Leni right now. She had to be in charge. She had to be _Lori._ And so, she'd _tried_ to be Lori.

But she wasn't.

Leni knew fully well that she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. It wasn't so much that she was stupid, she had been told, but that her mind just worked a bit differently than others. She had come to terms with this. But to hear _that_ word directed at her, from her own sister no less… it hurt. It hurt a _lot._

She hated this. She was tired, and scared, and upset. She wanted Lori to come home. She wanted to curl into a ball and cry herself to sleep, but she couldn't. She was still in charge, whether she liked it or not… and she had to be strong.

Leni looked down at the crying infant in her arms. She idly wondered if Lily was at some level aware of what was going on. Across the room, Luan sat in the armchair, taking periodic glances out the window in the hopes that she'd see Lori coming back; no doubt she was already planning out how she'd scold Lori for taking so long in the most pun-filled way possible. Lucy still sat nestled against Leni's side, looking more vulnerable than Leni had ever seen her, and on her opposite side were the twins. They looked exhausted, and Lola was struggling to keep her head up.

"Girls," she said sweetly, "Why don't you two go back to bed?"

"But Lori isn't back yet…" Lana mumbled sadly.

"Well, Lori would totes rather you rest up instead of staying awake worrying about her, don't you think~?"

"Leni's right," Luan chimed in. "You two should get some sleep. In fact, I bet that by the time you wake up, everything will be hunky-dory again!"

"You think so…?" Lana looked at her older sister with hopeful eyes, and Luan smiled brightly back at her.

"I know so."

Lana gave a small smile in return. "W-well, I guess…"

"Come on, Lana," Lola yawned. " _Some_ of us need our beauty sleep." She hopped down from the couch and Lana somewhat reluctantly followed her to the stairs. "Thanks, Leni!"

"Yeah… g'night." Lana added, and then the two went back up to their room.

"Sweet dreams!" Leni called out after them, before giving Lucy a little nudge as well. "You too, Lucy. Aren't you tired?"

"No." Lucy said flatly. It was true; she was a creature of the night, after all. That aside, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep like this, not while she was in such inner turmoil. With a sigh, she slid off the couch. "…I'm going to see if Lynn's alright."

Leni frowned and nodded. As Lucy silently slunk her way over to the stairs, she couldn't help but take a glance back at her sisters. Even if they were doing their best to remain in good spirits, she could tell that it was forced. As she watched Leni give her best smile to a fussing Lily, she felt a pang of guilt in her heart.

"Lucy? You okay?" For once, the tables were turned as Lucy was startled by Lincoln. He had just come out of the kitchen, warm bottle of formula in hand.

"Y-yes." She stammered. "I was just… going back upstairs."

Lincoln chewed his lip. He'd never seen Lucy like this before; she was normally so stoic, distant in a way that not even Lisa could match. But now she was scared… vulnerable. "Do, you, um… do you want to talk?"

Lucy considered taking him up on his offer. Lincoln, after all, was one of the very few people she enjoyed talking to for an extended period of time. On the rare occasions she needed someone to vent to, he was always there, and she felt that he was the only one in the family that could truly understand her.

At the very least, he may be the only one who _tried_ to.

But tonight, she knew there was nothing he could do for her. "Thank you," she said quietly in her practiced, monotone voice. "But no. I don't." She knew fully well that the only thing that could ease her worries was for Lori to walk through that door safe and sound

And somehow, she knew that wasn't going to happen.

* * *

Lynn lay on her bed in the fetal position, knees pulled close against her chest. She could feel a pit of guilt in her stomach. This was far from the first time she had upset one of her sisters… her propensity for speaking her mind had landed her in hot water more times than she could count. But even she knew there were lines that should never be crossed… she would never attack Luan for her overbite, or Lisa for her lisp, or Luna for her sexual preferences.

But tonight, she'd crossed that line, insulting _Leni_ of all people. Leni, whose only crime had been daring to lay down the law to the sporty Loud. And what had Lynn done in response?

She'd called her sister a _retard._

Just thinking about it made her feel sick. _Retard._ That was no simple slip of the tongue… she'd chosen that word on purpose. She'd chosen that word because she knew it would hurt Leni more than a punch to the gut ever could. She'd chosen it because she could still remember Leni coming home from middle school in tears, with clumps of dirt and twigs caught in her hair. Bullied mercilessly for being just a little bit slower than everyone else. Made to feel unwanted… like there was something _wrong_ with her.

That word had tormented poor Leni for so many years, and Lynn had used it deliberately… callously. _Cruelly._ Why? Because she was _annoyed?_ Because Leni had asserted herself?

Lynn could still feel her ears ringing from Luna's screams. Good. She deserved it, every harsh word that Luna had thrown her way. She _was_ an ungrateful bitch. She _was_ a spiteful, obnoxious brat.

She was horrible.

Lynn froze as she heard her door creak open. "Lynn…?" Lucy called out softly. "Lynn, are you awake…?" Lynn didn't respond, nor did she move. She didn't want to talk… she didn't have anything to say. All she wanted right now was to disappear.

After what felt like an eternity, Lucy left. And then, the tears came.

* * *

Luna splashed some cool water in her face before looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her face was still red with anger, and she couldn't help but scoff at the girl staring back at her. "You lost your cool, Luna." She said to herself. It was true; as much as she was furious with Lynn for insulting Leni, she knew fully well that she had been taking out her frustrations on the poor girl. Lynn was just a kid worried about her sister. And, Luna reminded herself, worried about _her._

Luna was stressed. Well, so was everyone else, but for Luna things went deeper than that. Normally, she would just jam out for a bit to calm her nerves… but she couldn't. Not with her hand in its current state.

She grimaced as she looked down at her now-unwrapped left hand. It hurt, no doubt about that; it was swollen and discolored, her broken fingers bent at odd angles. She knew it would take some time to heal… and that during that time, she wouldn't be able to play guitar. Quite frankly, she had no idea how she was going to manage it without losing her mind. Music was her life, her one true calling, the only thing she really _cared_ about… outside her family, of course. And right now, she'd never needed it more.

"Luna?"

Luna yelped, jumping as Lucy appeared in the doorway. "Bloody hell, Lucy! Don't do that!" She snapped a bit more forcefully than intended. Her expression softened as she noticed her younger sister recoil slightly, and she sighed. "S-sorry, Luce… I didn't mean it. C'mere."

She beckoned the goth over to her, giving her a gentle one-armed hug.

"Sorry." Lucy mumbled.

"S'alright luv. How're you holding up?"

"Fine…" Lucy lied. She winced as she saw her sister's mangled fingers, more out of sympathy than disgust; in any other circumstance, she'd likely be unfazed by the grotesque hand. "Does it hurt?"

"Oh, uh…" Luna laughed nervously, hiding it behind her back. "S'nothin' you need to worry about, dude."

"…I'm sorry." Lucy muttered in a quiet, guilt-stricken tone.

"'Bout what? You didn't do anything wrong."

Lucy frowned. "Do you want me to take care of it?"

"Eh…?" Luna chuckled softly. "I think this is a bit above your pay grade, dude."

"I-I can fix it." Lucy assured her. "I've set broken fingers before."

"Luce, it's… wait, what?" Luna asked, cocking an eyebrow. "When?"

"Lynn."

"Oh, right. Makes sense." Luna sighed. Lynn was always getting herself banged up in one way or another. "A-anyway… thanks, lil' dude, but I think I'm just going to wait till Lori gets back."

"…Luna, you'll be better off if you let me wrap it properly." Lucy sighed. "I mean, it doesn't look like help's coming right away… and I know what I'm doing. I promise."

Luna bit her lip. Lucy did have a point… there was no telling how much longer they'd be waiting for help to show up, and it _did_ hurt with the fingers flopping around freely like that. But… "Will it hurt…?" She asked nervously.

"Yes." Lucy replied simply. "A lot."

"…Wow. You've really sold me on the idea, Luce." Luna said sarcastically.

"You'll feel better afterwards." Lucy was already headed to the closet; she fished out a large medical kit, the kind often used for sports injuries. "Sit."

Luna hesitated for a moment, fidgeting nervously. She'd always been a pretty tough girl, but this was a bit… extreme. It wasn't so much that she didn't trust Lucy, more that these were, well, her _fingers._ She kind of needed them. "Lucy, I dunno…" She stammered.

Lucy sucked her teeth in thought. "…Come on." She said at last. "It'll be totally metal."

Well, shit. "That _does_ sound pretty metal, doesn't it…" Luna muttered under her breath. She _was_ metal, right? She could handle this. Hell, Pucker Uppenheimer once let a roadie yank out a rotten tooth with nothing more than a rusty pair of pliers and a few shots of whisky. Surely she could handle a few fingers being popped back into place? "Alright, doc." She said apprehensively before sitting down on the toilet lid. "Patch me up."

Lucy smirked and set the med kit on the side edge of the tub. "Oh, by the way," She said as she picked up the shirt Luna's hand had been wrapped in, rolling it up into a tube before handing it to Luna. "You're gonna want to bite down on this."

"U-uh… right. Great…" Luna mumbled. She could feel herself breaking out in a cold sweat. She was already beginning to regret this decision, but Luna Loud was not one to back down. She did as she was told and bit down on the shirt. "Ly thith?"

"Yes." Lucy said as she took her sister's hand carefully, even the gentlest of touches sending waves of pain though Luna's body. "Ready?"

"Ye- ah men nuh, _nuh, nuh_ -FFFFFFFFFFHHHHHHHHCKKKK!"

* * *

" _Did you hear that?!_ " Lana gasped, shooting upright in her bed. Lola didn't respond; she was snoring loudly, her long blonde hair splayed out wildly across the bed… for a princess, she was definitely an ungracious sleeper.

Lana chewed her lip. She was sure she had heard something… one of her pets, maybe?

Were they crying for her?

She hopped out of bed, yelping in pain as she stepped on a Lego. The room was even messier than usual, the earthquake having done quite a number on the place… but that was a matter for tomorrow. She clicked her tongue a few times, trying to beckon out any of her beloved pets; normally, they would come running as soon as she called for them.

Most people thought that reptiles and the like were cold, emotionless creatures, but Lana knew better. Each of her babies were precious and unique to her… each had a name, a personality, and an important place in her heart. Clive loved having his belly scratched, for example… Izzy didn't. El Diablo liked to give hugs, while Sgt. Slithers was a loner. Hops enjoyed the simpler things in life, while Seymour had been more of a renaissance frog.

Lana wiped a tear from her eye. She hated being without her babies… they'd never been gone this long before, and definitely not all at once like this. She was absolutely baffled as to where they could have gone; even her ant colony was completely empty, despite still being sealed shut. It was like they had all just… vanished. Not so much as a single lizard remained.

"I can't sleep," Lana muttered sadly. "Not while my babies are still out there. Don't worry guys, Mama's comin'!" She snatched a flashlight from her drawer and left the room; she'd search all night if she had to. But where to start?

She thought for a moment. She'd already checked her room top-to-bottom… and surely if any were upstairs, at least _one_ would have come out of hiding when she clicked her tongue. So they must be downstairs if they were in the house at all, right?

With that in mind, she slid down the banister. Lincoln and Leni were still in the living room, talking as they waited for Lori to arrive, while Lily slept peacefully beside them. Lincoln seemed to be doing his best to comfort his older sister. Lana slipped behind the couch and quietly entered her parents' room; if Leni caught her, she'd probably be sent back to bed, after all.

Her parents' room, barren as it was, had been left relatively untouched by the quake; a mirror had fallen of the wall, but luckily for Lana it hadn't shattered. She clicked her tongue a few times. "Guys? Mama's here… c'mon out!" She checked under the bed, through the dresser, and in the closet, unceremoniously rooting through her parents' clothes and tossing them to the floor. She did learn that her mom wore a size D bra, which she hoped would give her something to look forward to in the next twenty years or so, but other than that… nothing. Lana sighed dejectedly.

She slipped back out, past the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen… only to be met with Luan pouring herself a glass of juice. "Lana?" She asked, surprised to see the little tomboy out and about. "I thought you were going to bed?"

"I-I tried…" Lana mumbled. "I couldn't sleep."

"Heh… still a bit _shaken_ up, huh?" Luan chuckled, ruffling the girl's hair. "I guess that earthquake left us all pretty _rattled._ Get it?"

"Luan, stop," Lana giggled. Even at their lamest, Luan was just so _earnest_ with her jokes that Lana couldn't help but laugh along with her.

"Tell you what," Luan began. "How about you sit down and have some juice with your big sis? Maybe that'll turn that frown upside down."

Lana smiled. "Y-yeah, okay." She sat down at the kiddie table as Luan poured a second glass for her. She snickered softly as Luan sat down next to her; her gangly body looked completely out of place in the tiny chair, making her hunch over with her knees practically reaching her chin. She looked like a big pink grasshopper.

"Huh, I knew I was getting a bit _long in the tooth,_ but this is ridiculous!" She quipped, sucking in her lower lip to accentuate her oversized front teeth. Lana laughed again, and Luan grinned brightly as she gave her a glass of juice.

"Thanks, Luan…" She said as she took a sip. The sweet grape juice was exactly what she needed right now… almost as much as Luan's company. She could feel her nerves settling already.

"So, kiddo," Luan began. "Lola snorin' up a storm as usual?"

"You have _no_ idea." Lana scoffed.

"You think that's bad? Luna sings in her sleep." Luan glanced over her shoulder before leaning in and whispering to Lana, " _Opera._ "

" _No._ " Lana gasped.

"Oh, yeah. In Italian and everything!" Luan laughed. "She doesn't even know she's doing it!"

" _Please_ tell me you have videos!"

" _Hours._ " Luan said with a hint of pride in her voice. "One of the highlights of my collection, might I add. I'll show you sometime."

"That'd be awesome," Lana giggled.

As their chuckles faded, each took a sip of their juice. In that brief moment of silence, Lana's thoughts couldn't help but drift back to the current situation. "…Luan…" she said softly, "Do you really think Lori's okay?"

Luan's grin faltered for just a moment. "Y-yeah." She said, faking a smile. "She probably just got caught up in some trouble. But she's a tough girl, you know? I'm sure she's fine."

Lana frowned. "She… she promised me she'd help me look for my pets."

"Well, that's all the proof you need, isn't it?" Luan grinned. "Lori _always_ keeps her promises. No matter what."

Lana smiled a bit. "Yeah… I guess you're right."

"Hey, _speaking_ of Lori…" Luan added in a sly murmur. "You wanna know a secret?"

"Mmm?" Lana mumbled as she took another sip of juice.

"Sometimes Lori farts if you press on her stomach."

Lana snorted loudly, spraying grape juice from her nose and all over the table.

"Whoa, Lana!" Luan exclaimed with a snicker. "Say it, don't spray it!" She had a big smile on her face as Lana wiped her dripping nose; nothing made Luan happier than making other laugh. A spit-take was fantastic, but nothing could beat some good ol' drink-out-nose action.

The two finished their juice, sharing a few more laughs along the way, before the conversation had drifted towards the missing pets. "I just dunno what to do," Lana whined. "I can't find them anywhere… not so much as a single ant!"

"Hmm…" Luan frowned. She hadn't seen any of the other pets, either... usually they would hide under a bed or something during bad storms, but she'd expected them to come out of hiding by now. Still, she thought it best to not worry the poor girl further. "You know…" She said, "Creepy-crawly things like hanging out in dark places, right? Have you checked the basement?"

"The basement…" Lana thought for a second; come to think of it, some of them _did_ like going down there. It was dark, it was warm, and best of all, there were all kinds of delicious bugs and rodents scampering around after hours. "Luan, you're a genius!"

"I try," Luan boasted. "Now, here's the deal… you can go take a look, but if they're not there, you sneak your tuchus back upstairs and go back to bed… and I won't tell Leni you were down here, okay?"

"Deal!" Lana said happily, hopping up and giving her sister a big hug. "Thanks Luan… you're the best." With that, she ran around the corner and headed down into the attic. Luan chuckled and took the two glasses to the sink, being sure to wipe down the grape juice sprayed across the table before heading back to the living room.

* * *

Normally, Lana liked the basement. It was dirty, it smelled weird, and there were usually plenty of gross bugs crawling about. In other words, it was heaven.

But tonight, Lana just felt… uneasy. It was too dark, for one. Granted, the basement was always a bit too dark, the single exposed bulb on the ceiling doing little to light the room. But tonight it seemed darker than usual; the darkest corners of the basement were nearly pitch black, as if the light just wasn't reaching them. Lana clicked her tongue as she flitted about, checking under the washer and dryer, than _inside_ the washer and dryer, and even inside the radiator. She checked all the familiar cracks and crevasses, she checked under the stairs, she even dumped out all the laundry, but found nothing. Even the cobwebs were free of spiders.

With a dejected sigh, Lana shut off the light and walked back up the stairs. She just couldn't understand it. Where had they gone? How could she not have found a _single_ one of her babies? Somewhere in the back of her young mind, she knew this was not normal. It was as if they had all disappeared, like magic… but that was impossible, right?

As she reached the top of the stairs, she found herself standing before the back door. The only place she hadn't checked… outside. It wouldn't be the first time a few of her animals had gotten out… granted, never all of them at once, but she figured there was a first time for everything. Well, she supposed they'd be fine out there… she would continue her search in the morning.

…Although.

Lana chewed her bottom lip. Surely… she could at least take a quick peek? What harm could it do? She knew she'd been told not to leave the house, but she'd just be in the yard… the yard is still technically part of the house, right?

It'd only take a minute or two anyway. No one would ever know.

As quietly as possible, Lana reached out and unlocked the door. She had to be quick about this. She didn't think Leni would be too mad, but if she told Lori… Lana shuddered. She didn't want to think about that.

Lana carefully swung open the door, and she found herself standing before…

Nothing.

Everything outside the door was pitch black. She could not see even an inch in front of her… rather than bleeding out, the light from the kitchen seemed to just _stop_ at the doorframe. Were she just a little older, she may have immediately noticed that there was something _wrong_ about that, but unfortunately she was not a little older. She was six, and the only thought to cross her mind was "Wow… it's _really_ dark out."

Lana got out her flashlight and flicked the switch. Nothing. "Stupid thing must be broken…" she grumbled. If she were only to have looked at it a little bit closer, she would have noticed that it was working just fine… however, it simply cast no light beyond the door. Lana leaned her head out slightly, clicking her tongue a few times. "Babies…? C'mon, it's time to come home! The earthquake's over!" She waited. Nothing. There was not a single slither or rustle of a leathery body through grass; in fact, there was no sound at all. She swallowed and carefully, slowly took a step. She could feel the cool grass beneath her feet... she just couldn't see it. She took another step, then another. She could feel leaves and twigs crunching beneath her feet, but she couldn't hear them over her own racing heart.

Or could she not hear them at all…?

Lana felt a chill run through her body. Not because it was cold… it wasn't, and in fact, it wasn't warm either. It was just… neither, somehow. She couldn't detect a temperature of any sort, nor could she feel even the faintest breeze against her skin. In all directions, Lana could only see darkness. Not a single star, not a single dot of light in the distance. It had felt like she'd been there for hours, when in reality it had been only a couple of seconds… but she'd had enough. She'd find her pets in the morning. Lana turned to go back into the house…

…but there was no door.

* * *

"Damn, dude…" Luna muttered as she looked at her freshly-bandaged hand. It had taken some time, but Lucy had done a good job. Resetting the bones had been the roughest part, of course… though Lucy had been as gentle as she possibly could under the circumstances, without a heavy dose of morphine that was going to be agonizing no matter what. But after that, Lucy had carefully splinted and wrapped each finger, and then wrapped all four together into a nice tight bundle. She may have lacked the motherly touch that Leni had, but she certainly knew what she was doing.

"You'll still need to go to the hospital," Said Lucy as she packed away the med kit, "But you should be good until morning, at least."

"No shit?" Luna laughed. "You're a regular Dr. Feelgood, y'know that?" She pulled her little sister into a hug, and Lucy smirked slightly. "Thanks, Luce. Really."

"It's, um… don't mention it." Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit better.

"C'mon, let's go see how everyone's doing." Luna said, leading Lucy back out into the hallway. "Maybe they're heard from Lor-"

Suddenly, Lisa burst out of her room with a _slam_ , startling both girls; she looked to be in a near-frenzy, wide-eyed and with her hair even more unkempt than usual. " _Lucy!_ " She cried.

"W-wha-"

"I must speak with you." She said quickly, grabbing her sister's arm. "Privately. _Now._ " Without waiting for her approval, she pulled Lucy into her room and slammed the door shut, leaving a very confused Luna standing alone in the hallway.

"Lisa, what're you-" Lucy froze when she saw the state of Lisa's room. It was complete chaos, but not due to the earthquake… there were numerous large computers set up, beeping and whirring as they spat long rolls of printouts onto the floor. There were monitors displaying calculations and waveforms that Lucy couldn't even begin to comprehend, and what looked like some sort of radar dish rotating back and forth, and Lisa's chalkboard was covered in complex equations; that's not to mention the seemingly hundreds of charts and graphs scattered about. "L-Lisa…?"

"I've been busy." Lisa said plainly as she let go of her sister's arm. She looked awful; her eyes were bloodshot and she was jittery, even worse than one of her sugar highs. She was breathing heavily and Lucy couldn't help but worry that the tiny girl was going to pass out. "I was skeptical at first. It was illogical. Is. _Is_ illogical. Even as I've began to make sense of it. Sense? No… no." She laughed a dry, humorless laugh. "No sense. It makes no sense."

"Lisa…" Lucy stammered. "Lisa, please calm down."

"Calm down…?" Lisa chuckled. "No. No, sister, I will not." She beckoned Lucy over to her desk, and Lucy gasped as she saw a bottle of caffeine pills lying on its side, contents scattered everywhere.

"Lisa, these-" Lucy began as she picked up the bottle. How many had she taken?

"Necessary. All necessary." Lis muttered. "Not important. Look. _Watch_." She raised an hourglass, showing it to Lucy. "See?"

"U-um…" Lucy blinked. "Yes…?"

"Good. Now look." Lisa placed it on the desk upside-down, and the sand inside fell to the bottom of the chamber; but they did not sift through to the bottom chamber. She said nothing for a moment, her eyes rapidly darting from Lucy, to the hourglass, back to Lucy. " _See?_ "

"It's stuck?" Lucy muttered, before looking back down at the pill bottle in her hand. "Lisa, how many of these-"

"Forget about the _pills!_ " Lisa shouted, smacking the bottle from her hand. She reached up and grabbed Lucy by the front of her nightgown, pulling her down to eye-level. "It doesn't flow! It doesn't count down, Lucy! _Nothing_ does! Not the hourglass not the timer, not the clocks, they don't work! None of it _works!"_

"I-I…" Lucy had no idea what Lisa was talking about. She was clearly worked up over it, that much went without saying. Lucy gently took her sister's hands and pulled them free from her dress. "Lisa, please… calm down. What are you trying to tell me?"

Lisa looked up at her older sister with wide, wild eyes. Then, she shut them and took a deep, ragged breath. "…Alright. Alright, bear with me." Lisa removed her glasses, massaging the bridge of her nose and putting them on again before continuing. "As I said before… this was no earthquake. At least, not in the literal sense…" She began pacing. "In the simplest terms possible, the house violently shook, but there was no accompanying seismic activity. At least, none that my devices picked up on."

"O-ok…" Lucy swallowed. "You mean… only _our_ house shook?"

"I… believe so. Potentially." Lisa sighed. "There are… other factors at play, but I'll get to that. I'm sure you've noticed that the clocks have stopped?"

"Yes…"

"It was strange," Lisa continued. "A clock stopping on its own is not unusual, however… all of them did. Every last one. Even clocks that were merely a function of another device, say, a cellular phone for instance… they just stopped, even as the device itself continued operating."

"Right..."

"Not only clocks, however." Lisa frowned. "I assure you, that hourglass is not _stuck._ There is nothing stopping that sand from falling… at least, nothing physical."

"I… I don't understand." Lucy could feel her throat growing dry. "What are you-"

"Moving past that," Lisa kept on rambling, paying her sister no mind. "The darkness. It's unusual, isn't it?"

Lucy tensed up. She could feel a shiver running down her spine. Lisa noticed this, and raised an eyebrow.

"Clearly you agree, if your earlier behavior is any indication." Lisa cleared her throat. "Admittedly, I thought little of it at first… I took the low level of light as a sign that the earthquake had been an unknown meteorological event of some sort… until our brother pointed out that it was getting _darker._ Impossibly so, even…"

"D-darker…?" Lucy whimpered, glancing out the window. Sure, she couldn't see anything, but…

"Observe." Lisa pulled a light-up rubber ball from Lily's toy chest and walked to the window, sliding it open. With the ball glowing brightly in her hand, she reached through the window.

The moment the ball crossed the boundary of the windowsill, it was gone from sight. Not even the faintest glow could be seen; Lisa's arm was simply _gone_ , as if cut off at the shoulder. Lucy gasped, recoiling slightly. "W-what… how…?"

"As I said," Lisa muttered softly, pulling her arm back inside, the ball's bright light popping back into view as it left the darkness. "Impossible. By the very _nature_ of science, the impossible cannot be. And yet… here we are." Lisa's voice had become very quiet. She seemed uncharacteristically fragile… almost like an ordinary four-year-old girl. "Lucy… come here." She said softly. Lucy found it difficult to comply, as her legs were trembling as if they were made of jello. "Look." Lisa said, gesturing to the window.

"…No." Lucy shook her head, her trembling voice barely above a whisper. "N-no, I don't want to."

"It's alright, Lucy." Lisa assured her, taking her by the hand. "I've got you. Just… look."

Lucy swallowed, gripping her sister's hand tight. Slowly, she dipped her head and shoulders out the window into the darkness. She felt her chest tightening, unable to breathe; there was nothing. Just an endless void, a complete and utter lack of _anything…_ darkness so deep she could _feel_ it piercing to her very core. She staggered back, falling onto her backside, wide-eyed and gasping for air; Lisa simply frowned, closing the window.

"Impossibly dark," Lisa repeated, wiping her glasses on her shirt. "And growing."

"I-I don't…" Lucy whimpered, trembling with fear. "I don't… Lisa, what's _happening…?_ "

Lisa swallowed. "I… don't know. Not entirely. I've done the calculations, I've looked over the data. I have… theories…" She began chewing her thumb in thought again. "In fact, I have a very strong hunch on _what_. The question is _why…?"_

"Why…?" Lucy already knew where this was going. She'd dreaded this, hoped against all hope that it wasn't the case… but as Lisa stared at her with a solemn gaze, she knew what was coming.

"Lucy," She began in a hushed tone, "I am a scientist. I believe only in that which is logically sound, that which can be observed and rationalized… and yet, I cannot rationalize this. I have observed, and I have struggled to make sense of it. This is… _beyond_ my comprehension. All I can do is follow my instincts… which leads me to you." Lisa leaned forward, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Lucy… what did you _do?_ "


	3. III - Blood

Lola awoke with a start, her eyes jolting open; what time was it? She grunted drowsily as she pushed herself up to a seated position and glanced at the clock. She had to wipe the sleep from her bleary eyes to make out the numbers… one thirty-five, it read. Still frozen. Lola groaned, glancing out the window to find that it was still pitch black outside. She wasn't sure what had woken her… she couldn't recall any nightmares. In fact, she couldn't remember having any dreams at all, which was unusual for her.

So why was her heart beating so fast?

"Lana, are you-" Lola began, before realizing that her sister wasn't in her bed. She frowned deeply; she was used to this, as Lana would often go to Lori for comfort when she had a bad dream. Lola would never admit it, but that always bothered her a little bit… though she and her twin had a tumultuous relationship even at the best of times, she _did_ love Lana very much, and found it hard to sleep when her sister wasn't by her side.

Lola lied back down and tried to fall back asleep, but couldn't. Perhaps it was just due to the nerve-wracking events of the evening, but something just felt… _wrong._ Lola felt a pit in her stomach that physically pained her, as though she were having a bad stomach ache yet not quite. She wanted her sister. Lola ignored her tiredness and slipped out of bed, yawning loudly as she headed towards the door.

The hallway was quiet; she could vaguely make out Lisa babbling some dull nonsense from her room, but ignored it and made her way down the stairs.

"-need to do _something._ It's been two hours, at least… probably more than that." She heard Luna's voice from the living room. As the room came into view, she saw Luna, Leni, Lincoln, and Luan in the midst of a conversation; Leni was cradling a sleeping Lily in her arms. All four looked incredibly stressed out… even Lily seemed to be having an uneasy rest, her brow furrowed slightly as she slept.

"Lori told us to stay here." Leni said quietly.

"I _know_ that, but Lori's not _here,_ Leni! She could be out there hurt or worse, and we're just sitting on our hands waiting around! She could be _dead_ for all we-"

"Luna, don't say that!" Lincoln scolded, a hint of edge to his voice; Leni had visibly tensed up at the mention of death, and he gently grasped her hand to reassure her. "I know it's hard, but Lisa also said we shouldn't go outside… don't you think we should listen to _her,_ at least?"

"Ugh, I know, it's just… there's got to be _something_ we can do!" Luna groaned, flopping back into her seat. "What about that walkie-talkie of yours?"

"Tried it already… no luck." Lincoln sighed. He could only hope that Clyde was alright.

"L-Lori's still not back…?" Lola stammered, catching her siblings' attention.

"Lola?" Leni gasped. "What are you doing up?"

"I-I couldn't…" Lola whimpered, looking at Luna with tears forming in her eyes. "Luna… y-you really think Lori might…?"

Luna's face fell; she mentally cursed herself for thinking out loud as she rushed to her little sister's side, pulling her into a comforting hug. "No, little dude, no… I'm sorry. I'm just all out of tune right now, and I said something stupid. Lori's fine, I know it." Luna forced a smile to try and reassure the little princess.

Lola sniffled, clinging tightly to Luna. "I… I want Lana." Lola whined. "She wasn't in bed…"

"Wait, Lana hasn't gone back up yet…?" Luan muttered in confusion. Leni looked at her with a mildly annoyed expression.

" _Luan…_ " Leni said in a chiding tone, "What do you mean 'gone back up'?"

"O-oh, well…" Luan gave a nervous laugh. "She came down looking for her pets, so I let her check the basement… but she promised she'd go back to bed afterwards!"

"Luan…" Leni sighed.

"It's alright though! I bet you she's still down there… maybe she found them?" Luan said as she got out of the armchair, before walking over to Lola and taking her hand. "C'mon, let's go touch _basement_. Get it?"

"O-okay." Lola mumbled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Luan led her through the dining room and kitchen to the small hallway leading to the basement. However, as they opened the basement door, they found that the light was off; the basement was pitch black, the stairwell trailing off into complete darkness after the first step.

"Huh…" Luan muttered under her breath. This was unusual… Lana had never been a huge fan of the dark. "Lana, you down there?" She called out; no response. Lola squeezed her arm tighter.

"L-Luan… I don't like this…"

"It's alright, Lola. You stay up here, okay? I'll go have a look." Luan assured her, practically needing to wrestle her arm away from the frightened girl.

"W-wait, you shouldn't…!" Lola protested; she wasn't sure why, but she really didn't want her sister to go down there. Luan just chuckled softly, patting her on the head.

"Don't worry that pretty lil' head of yours, princess. I'll be back in a flash!" With that, Luan took her first step down, and then another. As she descended the stairs, she had to stop for a moment to take a deep breath; she'd acted calm in front of Lola, but in truth she couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. The basement had always been a bit creepy, and no matter how many times she'd ventured down alone, she never quite got used to it. "Lana?" She called again. "Are you here?" Again, silence.

Luan frowned, walking to the middle of the basement. She reached up for the light cord, only to find that it wasn't there. _Wait… what?_ She grasped about for it, but found nothing. It made no sense… she'd been down here plenty of times before, she _knew_ where the cord was. Maybe Lana had pulled it off by accident…?

"L-Lana…" Luan said again, her voice cracking a bit. "Stop messing around." Silence. In fact, it dawned on Luan just _how_ silent the basement was… she could hear nothing, not so much as a single roach scuttling across the ground. " _Lana!_ " She cried out again, louder this time… nothing. To her bafflement, she realized she couldn't even hear the echo of her own voice.

In fact, she couldn't hear her voice at _all_.

Luan swallowed the lump in her throat. That… couldn't be right, could it? Luan stuck a finger in her ear to clean it out before trying again. " _LANA!_ " She shouted at the top of her lungs. There was no sound… she could feel the vibrations of her throat, but she heard nothing but dead silence. She snapped her fingers… nothing. She stomped her foot…

…nothing.

Luan turned, bolting for the stairwell. She'd had enough… at any rate, Lana clearly wasn't down here. She reached out to grab onto the banister, but her hand simply passed through the space where it would be; had she gotten turned around? Impossible. She knew this house like the back of her hand. She'd lived here her whole life, after all… the stairs were _here._ They were always _here._

…Right?

Luan's chest heaved with rapid breaths. She heard nothing; without the sound of her own breathing, she couldn't be sure if she was drawing in air or not. She couldn't even hear the sound of her own racing heart. She thought, for sure, that she must be suffocating… but she couldn't feel the burning in her chest that would indicate that to be the case. She ran, desperately flailing her arms in front of her for some sign of the stairwell, or of _anything,_ but there was nothing. Luan lost her footing and fell forward, reaching out her arms to catch herself.

She couldn't even feel the ground beneath her.

* * *

" _Luan's gone!_ " Lola shrieked as she ran back into the living room, frightened tears streaming down her face. " _S-she went down and-and-and she's not coming auuughhh…!_ " Lola's cries devolved into hysterical sobbing as she threw herself into Luna's arms, blubbering inelegantly into her sister's shirt.

"L-Lola calm down…!" Luna held her sister as she cried, Lincoln rushing to her side as well. Lola's screams had awoken Lily, and she too started bawling as Leni tried to console her. "Calm down… _breathe._ What happened?"

"L-Luan…" Lola choked between sobs, "S-she went in the b-b-basement a-and she… she's not coming out…!" Lola whimpered pathetically into Luna's shirt, soaking it through with tears and mucus. "I-I-I called out to her b-but there's no answer and she's not coming o-out!"

Lincoln and Luna exchanged an annoyed glance. _Luan._ Lincoln sighed, kneeling down and rubbing his little sister's back. "Lola, it's alright. Luan's just playing one of her stupid pranks again."

Lola sniffled, pulling away from Luna to reveal a long strand of snot stretching from her nose to the rocker's shirt. "A… a prank…?"

"Y-yeah…" Luna assured her, doing her best to stifle her gag reflex. "Come on, I'm gonna give that girl a piece of my mind."

"N-no!" Lola whined, clinging to Luna tighter. "You'll disappear too…!"

"Lola, nobody's disappeared." Luna said in a gentle voice. "Now come on… I've got you." Lola reluctantly allowed Luna to lead her back to the basement door. The door remained open, and the basement below remained pitch black and silent; if anything, it seemed even darker than before, with not even the first step visible through the void.

" _Luan!_ " Luna shouted into the blackness. "Get your ass up here!" No response. Luna grit her teeth in frustration… this was too far, even for Luan. " _Luan, enough with the jokes! Get up here, NOW!_ " Nothing.

"Luna…?" Lincoln said as he entered the kitchen. "Is she down there?"

"She'd better _not_ be, because I swear I'm going to stomp the _crap_ out of her for pulling this shit right now…" Luna hissed, her anger masking her growing apprehension. Something about this was wrong… Luan wouldn't pull a joke like this, not when poor Lola was so frightened already. "I'm going down there."

" _NO!_ " Lola, screeched, pulling back on Luna's arm with all her strength. "You _can't!_ "

"Lola, it's _fine._ " Luna said sternly, pulling her arm free a bit harder than she intended to. "Lincoln, take her, will you?"

"I, uh…" Lincoln frowned, looking down into the darkness of the basement. "I… I agree with Lola… I don't think this is a good idea."

"Lincoln, for _fuck's_ sake, will you just-"

"Luna, come on, you don't need to swear in front of Lola…"

"Yes I _do,_ Lincoln!" Luna snapped angrily, making Lola and Lincoln flinch. "It's late, I'm tired, I'm stressed out, and if you haven't noticed, my Goddamn _fingers are broken!_ I'm in no _fucking_ mood to deal with this anymore! Now take your sister, I'm going down there!"

" _STOP!_ " A shrill voice rang out. "Do _not_ set one foot into that basement!" Lisa rushed past, pushing Luna aside with a surprising amount of force before slamming the basement door shut.

"L-Lisa…? What're you-" Lincoln began.

"Everyone. Upstairs. Now." The diminutive girl said with the most authoritative tone she could muster. "I'll explain everything, but it's not safe here. Let's go."

"Wait…! What about Luan?!" Luna asked.

"A-and Lana…!" Lola whimpered.

"Luan and Lana…?" Lisa muttered, a note of apprehension to her voice.

"Lana… Lana's missing," Lincoln explained, his voice cracking slightly. "Luan went down to the basement to look for her, but she hasn't come out…"

The color seemed to drain from Lisa's face. She grit her teeth, glancing back towards the basement door for a moment before shaking her head. "…We have to go. _Now._ " She began to forcibly push her three siblings away from the door. "I've already told Leni to meet us in my room."

"D-dammit Lisa, stop!" Luna hissed. "Luan's still down there!"

"No, she isn't." Lisa replied in a small, strained voice. "Not anymore."

* * *

"Lynn!" Lisa shouted, pounding on her door. "Emergency meeting in my room, _now!_ " She ushered the others into her bedroom, where Leni was already waiting; Lisa had been put to bed, a pair of noise-cancelling earmuffs placed over her head. Lucy was there too, seated in the corner with her face buried in her knees.

"Lucy…?" Lincoln called out. "Lucy, what's-"

Lisa cleared her throat. "It's… best if _I_ do the talking."

"What's going on…?" Came the hoarse voice of Lynn from the doorway. She skulked into the room, eyes red and raw from crying; her gaze met Leni's for a moment before she winced and looked away.

"Did you…" Lincoln swallowed. "Did you figure out what's been going on…?"

"Yes… I believe so." Lisa's voice carried none of the usual excitement that would accompany a new discovery… instead she sounded tense, tired and perhaps even scared. "Everyone, sit." Her siblings did so, and she took a few moments to collect her thoughts before continuing. "I, um…" Lisa began, her voice uneven and wavering. "Quite frankly, I'm not sure where to start."

Everyone shared a confused glance. "Um… how about you start from the beginning?" Lincoln offered.

"The beginning…" Lisa mumbled. "Right. Well, first of all, it would appear I was correct in assuming that there was no earthquake."

"A-alright…"

"The shaking we experienced earlier was not seismic in nature… in fact, it would be inaccurate to say that the ground was shaking at all." Lisa continued. "Rather, what we experienced was closer in nature to _turbulence._ "

"Um…" Leni raised her hand. "Like an airplane…?"

"Correct."

"But this is a house…" Leni muttered, scratching her head in confusion. "Right…?"

"…Yes, Leni." Lisa sighed. "Perhaps a better term in this case might be _extra-dimensional_ turbulence."

"I… don't get it." Lincoln said. "What do you mean _extra-dimensional?_ "

"What I mean, Lincoln, is that the house was not merely _shaking._ It was _transported_ through space and time, as were we all."

The silence in the room was tangible; the siblings awaited the inevitable sarcastic follow-up from Lisa, or a laugh, or _something_ to indicate that she was joking with them, but it never came… she seemed dead serious. "…What." Luna was the first to break the silence, her voice flat and unamused.

"W-where are we, then?" Lola squeaked, trembling in Luna's arms.

"Nowhere." Lisa replied flatly. Her siblings looked at her as though she had sprouted a second head; she sighed, waddling over to her chalkboard. " _This…_ " she said, drawing a circle. "…Is the space-time continuum. This covers everything… it is the very fabric of the universe itself. And let's say this…" She added a small circle within the first. "…Is us, or at least it _should_ be. If my hypothesis is correct, right now we are instead _here._ " She jabbed her chalk outside of the larger circle. "We are locked somewhere _outside_ of the space-time continuum. In essence… we are outside reality itself. We are _nowhere._ "

"… _What._ " Luna said again.

"That… that doesn't make any sense, Lisa." Lincoln stammered, his mouth suddenly very dry.

"You're right, Lincoln. It doesn't. And yet… here we are."

"I-I don't understand, but… Lisa… if we're outside time, like, wouldn't that mean that time… stopped?" Leni asked meekly.

"That's… surprisingly astute, Leni. Yes, that would appear to be the case."

"Wait, if we're in some other… place… how do we even have power…?" Lincoln asked.

" _That_ I have yet to determine. It's possible that our home is locked in the same condition it was in when we left… in other words, we had power in our universe, so we retain it here. There are a number of logical fallacies at play here, but then again this situation itself would seem to _defy_ logic, wouldn't you agree?"

"O-okay, let's just say for a second I buy into this bullshit." Luna scoffed, earning her an irritated glare from Lisa. "How would something like that even _happen?!_ "

"Yes, well… that's where we have an even greater problem." Lisa muttered. She walked over to her desk, pulling a large leather book from the top… the grimoire. "If you'll recall, Lucy had mentioned earlier that she had conducted a _ritual."_

"Alright, screw this." Luna huffed, getting to her feet. "I'm done wasting my time here."

"Luna-"

" _No,_ Lisa. I'm done." Luna snapped. "I mean, _rituals,_ now? Have you lost your damn mind?!"

"Luna, _please._ " Lisa sighed. "Believe me… I am well aware of how preposterous this sounds, and I can hardly blame you for your incredulity. But trust me when I say we are dealing with forces here I never thought possible… and if any of us hope to make it out of this alive, we'll all need to accept that."

Luna swallowed. "What… what do you mean, make it out _alive…?_ "

"…Sit." Lisa instructed. Luna frowned, hesitating for a moment before reluctantly complying. Lisa cleared her throat before continuing. "This book came into Lucy's possession recently… as I'm sure is immediately apparent, it is _quite_ old. More to the point, however… it is a _grimoire._ A book of magi- yes, Leni?" Lisa asked as Leni raised her hand.

"That's like, too big." Leni complained. "Lucy totes should have got it digital."

"…Noted. Thank you for your input." Lisa grumbled. "Pressing on… Lucy translated the book herself, with the help of a friend. Quite frankly, she did an admirable job for an amateur… but, nonetheless, mistakes were made."

Lucy whimpered slightly, drawing her knees closer to herself. "M'sorry…." She murmured, barely above a whisper.

"Namely…" Lisa continued, readjusting her glasses. "There are parts where the author's writing became erratic, and seemingly nonsensical. This was incorrect, though I can hardly blame her for assuming so… in reality, the author was in many cases making use of _ciphers_ to code his words… and, given the nature of the languages at play, the missing information at times drastically alters the meaning of the text."

"O-okay, so Lucy made some mistakes, but… what kind of ritual could have done _this?_ " Lincoln asked in a trembling voice.

Lisa flipped open the grimoire to the page in question. "'For those who seek the embrace of darkness.' Let me ask you all, what _is_ darkness?"

"Nighttime?" Lincoln offered.

"Scary," whined Lola.

"Pissing me off, right now." Luna grumbled.

Lisa coughed. "R-right… well, to put it simply, darkness is nothing more than the absence of light. However, the individual that wrote this tome seems to think otherwise… at various points he indicates that man's understanding of darkness is somehow _flawed._ He writes of a _true_ darkness, pure and untarnished by the light… ever-present, ever-growing, and all-consuming. I'm sure this sounds… _familiar_ to you, given our current situation. "

Lincoln felt his blood run cold. He hadn't been imagining it… it _had_ been getting darker.

"It would seem that this ritual was his life's work," Lisa said. "While Lucy skipped over much of the author's private musings, it's clear that he was driven by a need to _understand_ this so-called 'true darkness'. To… become _one_ with it, perhaps. As I'm sure you can imagine, a ritual powerful enough to warp the fabric of reality comes at a dreadful cost."

"What kind of cost…?" Lincoln asked.

Lisa frowned, removing her glasses to massage the bridge of her nose. "…At first glance, the components for the ritual are deceptively simple. I assume that's what drew Lucy to it in the first place. However… that is where she made perhaps her greatest error." Lisa sighed, placing her glasses back on. "The most important component… the _offering_. The ritual requires an offering of one's own blood. However… in this context, _blood_ means something different."

Lincoln's eyes widened. "L-Lucy…" he stammered. "You didn't."

Lucy sniffled, giving a small nod. "I… I didn't know…"

"Like… I don't get it…" Leni muttered trembling slightly; she didn't need to understand fully to grasp that this was a very bad situation. "W-what _does_ it mean, then…?"

"…Please, don't blame Lucy. She was driven by passion… not malice." Lisa said softly. "However… it would seem that our sister has unwittingly placed _us_ onto the proverbial chopping block."

"L-Lisa…" Lola sniffled, the terror apparent in her voice. "I-I don't understand… where did the others go…?"

Lisa frowned deeply. "Gone."

"You mean…" Luna swallowed, her bravado rapidly fading away. "You mean they're dead…? Lori… Lana… L-Luan…?!"

"I mean they're _gone_ , Luna. What, specifically, that entails, I cannot say… but suffice to say they are not _here._ " Lisa's voice was low, serious, and tinged with pain. "The darkness consumes all it touches, and it's already begun to spread inside the house. At most… I'd say we have less than three hours before it completely overtakes us. Relatively speaking, of course… as I stated, time does not actually pass here."

Lisa's siblings stared at her in wide-eyed horror. Lola was the first to break, wailing loudly as she cried for her twin sister; Luna clutched her tightly, fighting back her own tears for the sake of the young princess. Leni, however, seemed nearly catatonic as tears silently streamed down her face. Lincoln put his arm around her and she practically fell into his arms, sobbing softly into his shoulder. Meanwhile, in the back, Lynn silently got to her feet and left, returning to her own room. Lisa hung her head slightly; she hated putting them through this, but it was best that they understood the gravity of the situation.

"Lisa…" Lincoln sniffled. "You can _do_ something about this right…? Y-you're a genius… there's got to be _something_ , right…?!"

"Actually, there very well may be. I trust you are all aware of the multiverse theory?" Silence. Lisa groaned, drawing a diagram on the board. "Very well, try to follow along… in essence, there are an infinite number of universes parallel to our own... some that are nearly identical to ours, and many that are not. For example, there may be a universe where we were never born, or one where our biological sexes are reversed."

"Or one where we're rabbits…?" Lincoln offered.

Lisa cocked an eyebrow. "Er… y-yes, I suppose so. In any case, I have been working on a device that should, in theory, allow us to travel between universes. That said…" Lisa sighed, "Apart from being little more than a prototype, the fact of the matter is that it was meant to travel _between_ universes… and, right now, we are outside any known universe. I may be able to get it working, but needless to say… time is not on our side."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Luna asked.

"I'm afraid not. As I'm sure you can imagine, quantum mechanics are a highly complex field… one that none of you are particularly well-versed in, might I add. Your involvement would merely complicate matters."

"So what are we… _ow…_ supposed to do?" Lincoln winced in pain; Leni was clutching him so hard that her nails were digging into his back, but he nonetheless rubbed the back of her head

"For now, nothing." Lisa replied, hopping off the chair and to the floor. "As long as you stay out of the darkness, you are in no immediate danger… however, it's crucial that you maintain a level head."

"Easy for you to say…" Luna huffed, though her voice lacked the edge it held earlier. Lola was still hysterically sobbing in her arms, and Luna could think of no way to console the poor girl; hell, she couldn't even think of a way to console _herself._ Even in the off chance they actually survived this, they had still lost three of their sisters. Luna wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or scream or just break something, but what good would that do? All they could do was wait.

"I-I guess… we should leave you to it, then." Lincoln sighed. "Guys… c'mon. Let's get out of Lisa's way." He tried to get up, but Leni wouldn't let go of him; she simply squeezed tighter, shaking her head. "Leni… c'mon. It'll be fine… Lisa's gonna get us out of this, okay? But we need you… you're in charge, remember?" Leni sniffled, meeting his gaze. He smiled warmly at her, helping her to her feet.

"You as well, Lucy." Lisa said to the distraught girl huddled in the corner. "If I have further need for your expertise, I shall let you know." Lucy silently nodded and got to her feet. She kept her gaze locked on the floor as she shuffled past her siblings. How could she look them in the eye after what she'd done? Lincoln and Leni followed her out.

Luna struggled to her feet, doing her best to carry Lola with one hand. "Lisa… please." She said weakly before exiting. "Fix this."

As the door shut behind her, Lisa let her stoic façade crumble away. She took a deep, unsteady breath, choking back a sob as the tears began to flow freely. Lisa rarely allowed herself the luxury of showing emotions… after all, emotions merely got in the way of reason. Still, despite her best efforts she was only human. She loved, she hurt, she cried just like anyone else, even if she was better at hiding it.

Lisa took off her glasses and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. There would be time for tears later… right now, she had to act.

* * *

Lynn stood just beyond her bedroom door, staring blankly ahead at nothing in particular, as she had been for the past several minutes. It all felt so unreal; for all of her superstitions and beliefs, she had rarely put much stock in Lucy's occult nonsense. How many times, after all, had Lucy claimed to speak with the spirits with no evidence to back it up? How many rituals, spells, and enchantments had been attempted with no discernable effects? Even now, it just seemed too ridiculous to even consider.

And yet, Lisa herself had just stated in no uncertain terms that yes, magic _was_ real, and it had thoroughly _fucked_ every one of them. Lynn wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry… but her tears had dried up long ago. She could only give a strained, humorless chuckle as she staggered into her room. It was all just so _absurd_. Just a few hours ago, everything had been so normal… just an ordinary night in the Loud House. And now? Now, they were trapped in the middle of who-knows-where, completely cut off from the outside world, and her sisters were dead.

Lori, Lana, and Luan were _dead._

Lynn felt her stomach lurch. She clasped a hand over her mouth, stumbling her way to the window as her body shook with dry heaves, and threw it open. Lynn braced herself against the window frame as the first wave of vomit spewed forth from her mouth, unseen through the darkness. She heaved again, and again; even after her stomach had been completely purged of its contents, she was still throwing up pure bile and gastric juices that seared her throat and nostrils as they forced their way out. She practically collapsed against the windowsill as she felt the heaving subside, her body continuing to rattle with coughs and sniffles.

For a good while she just laid there, allowing her stomach to settle down. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and, reflexively, looked at it; but there was nothing to see. Everything beyond the window was simply an endless void… true darkness, far as the eye could see. Lynn stared out into the nothingness beyond, the darkness that had already claimed three of the people she loved. Was there even anything left of them to bury?

Would there be anything left of _her_ to bury?

Lynn swallowed, her saliva doing little to soothe her raw throat. Seeing it for herself, she could only feel the futility of it all… this wasn't some opponent that could be overcome. This wasn't an enemy team, or a broken leg, or some challenge that could be faced down and dealt with. This was… nothing. She may as well just a climb outside and get it over with.

 _Do it._ Lynn felt something pushing her forward-

"NO!" Lynn screamed, hurtling herself away from the window and back into her room. She frantically glanced around the room for some sign of her assailant, but there was nothing there. There never _had_ been.

The voice, she realized, had been her own.

Lynn let out a low, hoarse moan, falling to her knees in anguish. She was losing it. How could she not be? She was going to die. She was only thirteen years old and she was going to die, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. All because of Lucy's stupid ritual…

… _Lucy._

That's right. It _had_ been Lucy's doing, hadn't it? She was to blame for all of this… it was _her_ fault that they were here. It was _her_ fault that Lori, Lana, and Luan were dead. It was _her_ fault that she and the rest of her siblings were going to die as well. As far as Lynn was concerned, Lucy may as well have killed them all herself.

And for what?

Some stupid, childish _game?_

Lynn felt her stomach twist into a knot again, this time borne not of nausea but of hatred. She couldn't fight the darkness, she knew that. There was no way she could make the darkness pay for what was happening to them.

But _someone_ had to.

* * *

Luna felt a chill run up her spine as she looked down the staircase. Lisa hadn't been kidding… the darkness _was_ spreading. To the left, the dining room was already pitch black, while the corners of the living room were far darker than they had been before; darker than they _should_ be, given the amount of light in the room, but even that seemed to have dimmed. "Guess we're stayin' up here, then…" Luna mumbled softly, sitting on the top step.

Lola lay across her lap, having cried herself to sleep; as she stroked the sleeping girl's hair gently, she couldn't help but feel like she had never properly appreciated how much the little princess meant to her. She could be a brat at times, yes… and even downright spiteful at worst. But seeing Lola like this reminded Luna that she was still just a little girl… her little _sister._ She relied on Luna and looked up to her, even if she didn't always show it. The fact that it took losing three of her sisters to realize that made Luna feel sick to her stomach.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier." Luna said softly. "Both of you," She added, glancing over at her brother. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Luna." Lincoln responded with a sad smile. He was sitting against the wall with Leni at his side. She was leaning against his shoulder with a far-off look in her eyes.

"I'm the only one that should be sorry." Lucy murmured, huddled against the wall opposite her brother. "I'm the one that caused all this. Lori and the others are gone because of me…"

"Lucy, no…" Lincoln sighed. "This isn't your-"

"It _is_ my fault, Lincoln." Lucy interrupted him. "You can't pretend it's not. None of you can." Her voice was small and fragile, different from her usual dreary monotone… she just sounded like a scared eight-year old girl.

"Maybe so," Luna admitted, "But it doesn't mean we blame you for it, Luce. You had no idea something like this would happen… hell, I'm still havin' a hard time believin' it myself."

"S-still…" Lucy shook her head sadly. "I shouldn't have messed with things I didn't understand… I had a bad feeling about it from the start, but I… I still went through with it…"

"…Lucy." Leni spoke for the first time since Lisa's bombshell. She smiled weakly and outstretched her arms to her little sister. Lucy sniffled and bit her lip, hesitating briefly, before diving into her big sister's arms. Leni embraced her gently as she began to cry, her tiny body shaking with sobs.

" _I-I'm sorry…!_ " Lucy whimpered, her tears soaking Leni's nightgown. " _I never meant for anyone to get hurt! I'd… I'd take it all back if I could…_ "

"We, know, Lucy." Leni assured her as she gently rubbed her little sister's back. "It's all going to be okay. Lisa is totes gonna fix this."

"B-but the others…"

"Lucy," Lincoln chimed in. "Remember what Lisa said? She wouldn't say they were dead… just that they're _not here._ If she can get _us_ back home, she might be able to save them too!"

"Yeah… yeah, Linky's right!" Leni grinned, some of her usual pep returning to her. "Lisa's going to fix everything, don't you worry… like, someday I bet we're even gonna look back at this and laugh." Lucy sniffled and looked up at her two older siblings; they both grinned brightly down at her, as though they genuinely believed what they were saying. On one hand, Lucy couldn't help but wonder if they really understood the gravity of the situation… but on the other hand, somehow their words of optimism soothed her troubled soul just a bit.

Leni ran her hand up Lucy's cheek and under her bangs. Normally, Lucy would bat her hand away… but now, she didn't care anymore. Leni brushed her hair to the side, revealing the pale blue eyes that had once unnerved her. Now, Leni just smiled sweetly as she gently wiped away her little sister's tears. "…I love you." Lucy said quietly. "I love all of you… I don't say it enough, but it's true…" She sank into Leni's arms, no longer caring about maintaining her image. Right now, her siblings made her feel _safe._

"C'mon, Luce… you think we don't know that?" Lincoln chuckled, joining in on the embrace.

"We totes love you, too. No matter what!" Leni agreed.

"Ditto," Luna added with a smirk. "I'd come hug it out with you guys, but I'd rather not wake the princess."

For some time, things were peaceful. Lucy stopped crying after a bit, and simply sat in silence nestled between her brother and sister. Lincoln couldn't help but notice just how _quiet_ the house was… quieter than it had ever been. Even when the entire family had come down with laryngitis, things hadn't been _this_ silent. It was eerie, and he found himself longing for one of Luan's terrible jokes, or one of Lori's insults, or even for the twins to get into yet another fight over some petty nonsense. But now he could hear nothing save for the gently breathing of his sisters, and the muffled sounds of Lisa hard at work in her room.

"Hope she hurries up…" Luna muttered uneasily. "It's gettin' worse, dudes." Lincoln leaned over and peered down the staircase. His blood ran cold; it _was_ getting worse. He could only see the floor for a few feet at the bottom of the steps… the front door was already lost to the darkness.

"Lisa can do this." Lincoln sighed as he leant back against the wall. Luna only frowned and gave a small nod. Lincoln wasn't sure how long it had been yet… it felt as though even his perception of time was out of whack. It certainly hadn't _felt_ all that long. "…I gotta pee." He mumbled as he got to his feet.

"Don't fall in!" Leni warned, earning a small laugh from her brother. "What? I'm serious. It _happens,_ Linky…"

"Guys pee standing up, Leni!" Lincoln pointed out as he walked to the bathroom.

"They do…?" Leni frowned, her brow furrowed in confusion. "How…?"

"I'll tell you when you're older, Lens." Luna snickered, and Lucy couldn't help but let out a small chuckle herself. The banter made things seem almost… normal.

But someone was missing.

Lucy frowned as she looked at her bedroom door. Ever since her outburst, Lynn had been holing herself away in her room, and Lucy couldn't help but worry. Though the two were polar opposites in most ways, they'd always been particularly close to one another… granted, mostly by virtue of being roommates. Lynn had never handled adversity very well, and tonight was no exception; in fact, now that Lucy thought about it, she realized the sport-loving Loud hadn't said a single word during Lisa's briefing, and in fact had left before it was even finished.

"You wanna go see if she's alright?" Leni asked, apparently noticing her sister's concern. Lucy gave a small nod and Leni patted her on the head. "Go on, then. Tell her… tell her I totes forgive her for what she said, alright…?"

* * *

"Lynn…?" Lucy said as she stepped into her room. "Lynn, you should come… out…" Her voice trailed off as she realized she couldn't see her sister anywhere. "L-Lynn?" She asked again, approaching her sister's bed; the blanket was all bunched up, but it was empty. She _had_ come back in here, right…? "Lynn, where are-"

Lucy gasped. The window. It was _open_. " _Lynn!_ " She rushed over to it, looking out into the void beyond as her heart pounded in her chest. She wouldn't. Not _Lynn._ "N-no…"

 _Click._

Lucy heard a sound from behind her. She turned, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw her sister behind her, safe and sound... she'd been standing beside the door the whole time. "L-Lynn, thank goodness…" Lucy stammered. "You scared me…"

"Did I." Lynn replied flatly. "Not so fun from the other side, is it?" Something about Lynn's tone sent a chill down Lucy's spine; her voice was low, cold, and dripping with venom. Lynn withdrew her hand from the doorknob. Had she just locked the door…?

"Lynn, a-are you…" Lucy swallowed. "Are you alright?" Lynn simply scoffed in response before grabbing the chair from the desk and wedging it beneath the doorknob. "Lynn…?!" Lucy instinctively took a step back. "What are you doing?!"

Lynn didn't answer. She took a step towards her sister, and then another, backing the young girl against the dresser. Lucy had never felt the difference between them so clearly... though she was only about nine inches or so shorter than Lynn, right now her older sister may as well be ten feet tall. Lynn had her cornered, and Lucy wasn't about to find out why; she pushed the older girl away and made a dash for the door.

Lynn was prepared. She easily swept the goth's legs out from under her, and Lucy's chin smacked against the floor so hard it made her ears ring. A moment later she felt Lynn's fingers clutch her ankle tightly and she realized she was being dragged over to the window. "N-no… _no!_ " Lucy screamed, desperately clawing at the floor to no avail. "Lynn, _stop!_ "

Lucy frantically kicked with her other leg, spinning around onto her back as her older sister attempted to grab her. She managed to kick Lynn on the chin hard, making her let go momentarily, but it was fruitless… the athlete simply caught the young girl's face in her palm and viciously slammed her head against the ground. Lucy cried out in pain, her vision exploding into a blurry mess of stars and colors.

Lucy found herself being hoisted off the ground with ease, and she had to struggle with all the strength she could muster as Lynn began forcing her out the window. "Lynn, _please!_ " She cried, her pleas falling on deaf ears; Lynn had nothing but cold indifference in her eyes as she offered her sister to the darkness. Lucy braced her hands against the window frame, holding on with all her might. She knew she could never hope to overpower the teen… the difference in strength was simply too great.

"What's wrong, Lucy?!" Lynn hissed. "I thought you _liked_ the dark!" Lucy could feel herself slipping; as Lynn tried to push on her face, she did the only thing she could think to do. She bit down on Lynn's fingers _hard,_ making the older girl howl with pain and loosen her grip. This was her chance. Lucy threw herself against her sister, sending both of them toppling to the ground. Lucy scrambled to her feet and ran for the door.

"Lucy?! Lucy, what's going on?!" She heard Lincoln pounding at the door, desperately trying to open it.

"I-it's Lynn!" Lucy cried, frantically pulling at the chair in an attempt to dislodge it. "She's gone crazy…!"

" _I've_ gone crazy?!" Lynn shrieked as she got to her feet, her eyes filled with rage. "You're the one that's _killed us!_ " Lucy dove away as her sister charged for her, crashing to the ground roughly.

"It was an _accident!_ " Lucy sobbed as she scurried away on all fours, Lynn hot on her trail. She could hear shouting from outside the door, and a series of loud bangs… someone must have been trying to break down the door.

" _Liar!_ " Lynn pounced upon Lucy, driving the young girl to the ground. Lucy felt her sister's arm wrap around her neck, pulling back tightly and choking her. She gagged and clawed desperately at the older girl's arm, her lungs burning as she struggled for air; she was certain that this was it, that her own sister was actually going to strangle the life out of her. Lucy let go, and Lynn felt a dampness around her knees accompanied by a faint odor. "Ugh…!" She grunted, recoiling in disgust as she realized her sister had wet herself. Lucy gasped as Lynn's grip loosened enough to let her slip free.

Lucy dove underneath her sister's bed, desperate for some means of escape, but Lynn simply dragged her back out. She grasped for something, _anything_ to aid her, and her fingers closed around Lynn's baseball bat; as Lynn pulled her from beneath the bed, Lucy turned and swung.

Lynn caught the bat with ease.

"So, that's how you want to play?" Lucy's blood ran cold as the teen plucked the bat from her hand with ease, flipping it and catching it by the handle. "Alright. Let's play ball." Lynn brought the bat down on the little girl's stomach hard, knocking the wind from her lungs; Lucy was barely able to raise her arm in time to protect her face as Lynn swung again, her arm making a sickening _thwack_ as the bat smashed into it. She raised her other arm, doing her best to block herself as the furious teen rained blows upon her. " _This is for Lori!_ " She screeched, " _And this is for Lana!_ " There was a loud cracking noise as the door flew open, the chair tumbling across the ground. " _And this is for Luan!_ " Before she could hit Lucy again, Luna was already upon her, knocking the bat out of her hands and restraining her.

" _What are you doing?!_ " Luna screamed at her sister, pulling her away from the battered girl and out into the hallway. "Have you lost your fucking _mind?!_ " Lynn paid her no heed, struggling madly in the older girl's grip; she wanted _blood._

"Let me _go!_ " Lynn hissed as she fought against her sister. " _She killed them!_ "

"Lynn, for God's sake, she's _eight!_ " Luna couldn't believe how strong Lynn was… even though she was the larger of the two, it took everything she had to hold the athlete back, especially since she only had one hand to work with. "D-damn it… Lincoln, help me…!"

As Lynn struggled, her elbow inevitably struck Luna's injured hand, making the rocker shriek with pain and loosen her grip. "I _said_ …" Lynn growled as she slipped out of her older sister's grasp. "Let _go!_ " Lynn swung and planted her foot into the girl's stomach, hard.

It was the worst mistake she had ever made.

Time seemed to slow at the realization of what she'd done set in. Luna's eyes were wide with shock at the force of the kick; she hurtled backwards, away from Lynn.

Directly towards the stairs.

The rage dissipated from Lynn's face in an instant, replaced by horror. She planted her foot down and ran for her sister, reaching for her desperately.

Luna's heel caught at the edge of the first step and she teetered back, off-balance. Lynn tried to grab her hand but she couldn't quite reach, her fingertips barely brushing against Luna's as she fell.

Luna's back hit the stairs, hard, and she tumbled roughly with her legs flipping over her head. She rolled again, and again, before slipping out of sight into the void.

Luna felt her body slam against the floor roughly; relieved that her ordeal was over, she finally dared to open her eyes, her battered body screaming in pain as she pushed herself upright.

There were no stairs.


	4. IV - Darkness

Lynn fell to her knees, her hand lowering weakly to her side. Below, the darkness surged a few inches higher as it claimed yet another victim.

Because of Lynn.

" _LUNA, NO!_ " She could hear Leni shriek from behind her. Lola made a strangled cry of horror, her high-pitched voice cracking into a squeak. Lynn would have screamed for her sister if she could, but all the air had left her lungs. All she could do was stare in wide-eyed horror as the reality of what she'd done set in.

Lynn could still see the look of shock on Luna's face imprinted into her brain. She could still feel Luna's heat on her fingertips; the lingering sensation of her touch burned like fire. She'd lost her. She'd _killed_ her. Another sister gone, because of _her._

Slowly, Lynn turned; first she saw Lola, both hands clasped before her mouth and her blue eyes brimming with tears. Looking away from her, she saw Lincoln standing in her doorway, staring at her with a mixture of disbelief and fear. Lucy lay limp in his arms, looking like a broken doll… one arm hung freely, her pale skin swollen and covered with dark purple bruises, while the other clung desperately to her brother. She was sobbing softly, her face twisted in pain and sorrow. Once again: Lynn's handiwork.

Finally, she turned to Leni. She only caught a brief glimpse of her furious sister reeling back before she felt the sharp impact of a palm against her cheek. She'd been slapped before, but never like this; Leni struck her hard enough to knock her to the ground, and it felt like an explosion of pain across the left side of her face. Leni towered over her, her face contorted in pure rage; she'd _never_ seen Leni look so angry before… she'd never even seen _Lori_ look so angry before. Leni grabbed the front of her shirt and hoisted the athlete roughly to her feet.

"Lynn, _why…?!_ " Leni hissed, the seething fury evident in her tone. "What have you _done?!"_ Lynn could feel Leni's hands shaking against her chest, waiting for an answer that wouldn't come. What _could_ she say? She had no good answer, no excuse… she'd lost control. She'd done the unthinkable, and it had been poor Luna that paid the price for it. All she could do was avert her eyes in shame.

"T-throw her down," Lola suggested with a trembling voice. "Throw her down with Luna!"

"W-wait, hold on…!" Lincoln stammered. "You can't seriously-"

"She… she killed Luna… she _tried_ to kill Lucy…!" Lola pointed at her sister angrily, tears streaming freely down her face. "We can't trust her!" Leni's eyes narrowed slightly, and Lynn felt a lump forming in her throat. But she didn't protest, nor did she struggle; she didn't feel she had the right to.

"N-no…" A weak voice coughed out, sounding so feeble that it made Lynn's stomach turn; it was Lucy. "N-no more… please…" The injured girl whimpered. "I don't want to… to lose anyone else…! _Please…_ " Lucy's tiny frame began rattling with quiet, choked sobs. She sounded like she was in pain, both physically and emotionally; she sounded _broken._ And yet even now, she was begging to spare her sister's life. Lynn squeezed her eyes shut and hung her head pathetically. _What have I done?_

Leni frowned, looking from the battered child in Lincoln's arms to the remorseful girl cowering away before her. Of _course_ she wasn't going to throw Lynn to the darkness. She could never do something so cruel, no matter _what_ the person in question had done. But she wasn't going to just let Lynn walk free, either. "…Lincoln…" Leni began, doing her best to calm herself and speak firmly. "T-take Lucy and put her on my bed. I'll be in right after I deal with Lynn."

"I-I…" Lincoln sputtered, still fearing the worst. "Leni, you _can't…_ "

"I won't." Leni assured him. "Now _go._ Let me handle this." She ordered him, leaving no room to argue. Lincoln hesitated a moment, looking between his two older sisters before biting his lip and giving a reluctant nod. He headed for Leni's room carefully, trying not to jostle Lucy any more than necessary.

"Leni, _throw h_ -"Lola began, but Leni quickly shushed her. The little girl was clearly not in the best emotional state right now, and even Leni knew better than to let things escalate further.

"I will _handle it,_ Lola." Leni repeated sternly. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

"B-but... but _Luna…!_ " Lola whimpered as Leni grabbed Lynn by the wrist and roughly dragged her towards Luan and Luna's room. " _I wish you'd gone after Lori!_ " The little girl shrieked at Lynn as Leni pulled her into the room; Lynn didn't resist her big sister, nor did she cry out when her pinky toe painfully smacked against the doorframe on her way in.

Once the door was closed behind them, Leni turned and glared at her sister. She was still quaking with rage and wanted nothing more than to slap the girl again, to scream at her, to make her _pay_ for what she'd done… but she couldn't. Not when the once-proud athlete stood before her in such a pitiful state.

"…Why?" Leni asked in a low, quiet voice. Somehow, it made Lynn tense up even more than if she had been yelled at.

"I…" Lynn muttered as tears began to collect in her eyes. "I don't know."

Leni's scowl deepened. "You don't _know._ " Lynn simply shook her head, her bleary eyes focused intensely on the ground. She didn't want to be in this room right now; the broken instruments littering the ground served as a grim reminder of what her actions had wrought. This was intentional on Leni's part, though there was a more practical reason for choosing this room.

Leni turned sharply on her heel and strode over to the closet. Luan and Luna were far from the most organized Louds, and Leni had helped them tidy up many times in the past… as such, she had a good idea of where things were. Sitting on the floor in the closet was a chest, one of several belonging to Luan; this one in particular was used for magic tricks and the like. Leni fished through it until she found her prize: a pair of metal handcuffs. Though intended for tricks, the cuffs were real enough, as Leni herself had learned the hard way during one of Luan's pranking frenzies.

Leni pulled Lynn to the toppled-over bunk bed and snapped one end of the cuffs to the post, and the other end around Lynn's right wrist. The bulb at the top of the bedpost would prevent the cuffs from slipping off, and even Lynn wasn't strong enough to move something so heavy on her own. Lynn simply expected her punishment without protest.

"You listen to me, Lynn." Leni's voice was harsh and cold, with none of her usual bubbly demeanor. "I do not want to hear a single peep out of you for the rest of the night. When Lisa finishes her thingy, we will come get you. Until then, _not. One. Peep._ Do you understand me?" Lynn drew her knees in close and gave a small nod. Despite her stern façade, Leni really didn't want to do this; even after everything she'd done, Lynn was still her sister. But Lola was right about one thing: she couldn't be trusted. She'd flown off the handle once, and Leni couldn't afford to let her do any more damage.

Leni took one last look over her shoulder at the tormented girl huddled pathetically on the floor. Part of her still wanted to reassure her, but she knew she had to be tough right now.

She had to be like Lori.

As Leni shut the door behind her, she let out the long sigh she'd been holding in. She really did hate being the one in charge. She glanced down the hallway and saw Lola curled up on the floor, quietly weeping for Luna; perhaps it was her way of repenting for being so callous earlier on, but the rocker had made it her personal mission to care for the girl throughout the night. Now she was gone, as was her twin sister, and Luan, and Lori… the arrogant princess Leni knew was now long gone, and in her place was a distraught little girl who had lost too much. Leni wondered if Lola would ever be the same after this, even _if_ Lisa could rescue the others.

Perhaps _none_ of them would be the same.

Leni fought back the urge to run to the child's side; right now there were more pressing matters to deal with. After a quick stop at the bathroom, Leni entered her room with the medical kit in tow.

* * *

All it took was one look at her little sister to make Leni's sympathy for Lynn fade away.

Lucy was an absolute mess. Her entire body was covered in yellow-purple bruises, with her arms obviously the worst off. Her breaths were short and ragged, and she could make out the coppery taste of blood in her mouth; whether it was from her split lip or biting Lynn's hand, she wasn't sure. She couldn't help but find it darkly ironic, considering her lifelong dream of being a vampire… now, however, the taste just made her want to vomit.

"She's really bad, Leni…" Lincoln muttered. He couldn't believe that Lynn had beaten the little girl so savagely… while fights were common among the Loud siblings, there had never been anything like _this._ The crazed look in Lynn's eyes had chilled him to the bone, as though she were completely lost to her anger.

Leni wasted no time, rushing to Lucy's side and opening the kit. The stale scent of urine filled the air, making Leni wrinkle her nose in disgust. "Lincoln," She began, "I need you to go to Lucy's room and get her a change of clothes." Lincoln nodded. "Like, get a tank top if you can find one." Leni added, taking note of Lucy's badly injured right arm. Lincoln rushed off to do as she asked.

"Leni…" Lucy rasped weakly. "Leni, it hurts..."

"I know, sweetie…" Leni replied in the most motherly tone she could muster, though her voice was noticeably cracking. Still, she had to keep it together. "It's totes going to be okay. First, let's get you out of those clothes."

Lucy's bottoms came off easily enough; her lower body had been untouched for the most part. With experience that could only come from years of caring for her younger siblings, Leni cleaned her off with some moist towelettes from the kit; Lucy was too out of it to feel much embarrassment. Her shirt was another matter… using a pair of scissors, Leni carefully cut the garment off of her. Leni had to stifle a gasp at the sight. Lucy's pale flesh was marred with bruises, and there was a massive one right on her abdomen where she'd been struck by the bat.

Leni may have been an airhead, but she knew fully well what a vulnerable area that was; no matter how much remorse Lynn felt now, there was no doubt that she had been trying to kill her sister. Leni thanked God that Luna had managed to break open the door; there was no telling what may have happened had they been even a few seconds later.

"I-is Lynn okay?" Lucy's question was like a knife through Leni's heart; she swallowed the bitter response she wanted to give and got to work cleaning her sister's wounds.

"…She's fine." Leni said quietly.

"Don't… _nngh…"_ Lucy gasped in pain as Leni dabbed a peroxide-soaked cotton ball against her split lip. "Please don't hate her… she's just scared…"

"We're _all_ scared." Leni replied flatly. "Don't worry about her right now. Worry about _you._ " Lucy frowned, but gave a small nod nonetheless. "Like, can you move your arm?"

"I-I'll try." Lucy mumbled. Slowly, she lifted her right arm; Leni gingerly took hold of it, even her gentle touch sending waves of pain through Lucy's body. It was clearly fractured, but thankfully didn't seem to be broken all the way through.

"I, um…" Leni stammered, chewing her lip. "I don't know what to do about this…" She'd dealt with plenty of cuts and bruises over the years, but broken bones were far outside her area of expertise.

"P-pillow…" Lucy managed to hiss through clenched teeth. Leni immediately understood and grabbed one of the pillows that had fallen to the floor, placing it beneath her sister's arm. Lucy sighed in relief as her arm settled into the soft pillow, its natural coolness soothing her somewhat. "Thank you."

"Alright, got some fresh clothes for ya," Lincoln said as he entered with a pair of clean pajama bottoms and a red tank top. "I had to borrow one of Lynn's- _AHH!_ " Lincoln shrieked, covering his eyes at the sight of Lucy's bare body. Both he and Lucy turned a bright shade of crimson. Leni, however, just gratefully took the clothes.

"Thank you, Linky." Leni set the clothes aside and continued tending to the little girl's injuries. She placed a few cold compresses against Lucy's arm, applied ointment to the various bruises covering her body, and placed bandages over the small cuts and scrapes. As this was happening, Lincoln stood faced away with his hands covering his eyes. "Lincoln?"

" _Ididn'tlook!_ "

Leni rolled her eyes. "Not that, silly. In the medicine cabinet there are some pills called n-na…. nu… ne…" Leni furrowed her brow in thought as she tried to remember the name. "Whatever, they're in the green bottle. Bring one for Lucy, please."

"Y-yeah, sure!" Lincoln was more than happy to have a reason to get out of there, and he ran off quickly. Leni carefully helped her little sister get dressed, and had just pulled down Lucy's shirt as Lincoln returned with a glass of water and a round, white tablet.

"Thanks, Linky." Leni took the tablet and offered it to Lucy. "Here… this should totes help with the pain." She said with a kind smile. The pills were Lori's; she sometimes suffered from severe menstrual cramps, and needed something to ease her discomfort. Leni knew that they weren't really meant for children, but she figured Lucy needed something strong right now… besides, it's not like they could go downstairs to get something else.

"O-okay. Thanks…" Lucy took the pill and swallowed it with a mouthful of water. She had to resist the urge to gag; for whatever reason, she always hated taking pills. Still, her throat was raw from screaming and the water soothed it quite a bit. She exhaled deeply as she lay back down, her head nestling comfortably against the pillow.

"How're you feeling, Luce?" Lincoln asked as he apprehensively approached the bed.

"Not good," Lucy admitted. Her pale blue eyes were still wet with tears, due both to her pain and her sorrow. Her closest sister wanted her dead, Luna was gone, and perhaps worst of all... she knew that Lynn had been right. "I deserved this…" The young goth muttered under her breath.

"…What?"

"I deserved this," She repeated as tears began to drip down the sides of her face, seeping into the pillow. "Lynn was right. Everyone's… everyone's dead because of me."

"Lucy," Leni began, kneeling on the floor beside her. "We don't know they're-"

"I do." Lucy sniffled. "I feel it. They're gone… a-and we're next. I just… I know it…" Leni wanted to say something to comfort the poor girl, but she couldn't find the words; instead, she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as the reality of the situation came back to her.

"Lisa's going to save us, Lucy." To Leni's surprise, Lincoln spoke with complete confidence. He gave her the biggest smile he could muster as he gently took her left hand in his. "She'll fix everything… I know she will."

"L-Lincoln's right," Leni said, giving a half-hearted grin of her own. "And don't say you deserved this. Like… _nobody_ deserves this. Lynn did a very, very bad thing, and there's no excuse for it." She gingerly dabbed at her sister's eyes with a tissue. Lucy turned away slightly; though she appreciated her siblings' efforts, she could only feel that their fate was inevitable.

"I-I swear…" Lucy whimpered softly. "If we make it out of this… I'm giving it all up. No more magic, no more séances… n-no more darkness. I-I just… I want this to stop…"

"Shhh…" Leni gently shushed her and began stroking her hair; Lucy couldn't help but shut her eyes and sigh in comfort. For all her clumsiness, Leni could be amazingly delicate at times, and her slender fingers made for a pleasant sensation as they brushed through her raven locks. With Lincoln's thumb gently caressing the back on her hand, Lucy felt herself growing drowsy. Perhaps it was due to the medicine, or maybe just exhaustion, but within ten minutes she had dozed off.

The two remained by her side for a couple more minutes, until they were satisfied that she was in a deep sleep. Lincoln stood up with a grunt, his rear end sore from sitting on the floor so much. "Guess we'd better let her rest for now. C'mon Leni, let's… Leni?" His sister stood with her back to him, her hand clasped over her mouth; Lincoln could see her shoulders start to tremble as her eyes brimmed with tears. "Leni… are you alright?" He asked, the concern evident in his voice.

"I can't do this anymore, Lincoln." Leni's voice was practically a whisper; Lincoln frowned deeply as he walked to her side.

"Can't do what?"

" _This._ I… I just can't." Leni bit her lip, trying her best to stop from breaking down right then and there. "I can't keep pretending everything's okay. It's _not,_ Lincoln… _I'm_ not. I'm…" Leni swallowed and wiped at the corner of her eye. "I'm terrified."

"Leni… of course you are. So am I." Lincoln wrapped his sister in a big hug. "But we can't let it get the better of us. We need you-"

"No you don't!" Leni snapped. "You need Lori… _I_ need Lori…! B-but she's… she's…" Leni's knees buckled and Lincoln almost got pulled down along with her; it took all his strength to support the sixteen-year old as she buried her face in her hands and began to cry. "I-I just want her back… I want them _all_ back…!"

"Leni… come here." He held his big sister close and let her cry, taking a glance over his shoulder at Lucy. Thankfully, she was out cold, and it didn't seem that she would wake up easily. With a small sigh he hugged Leni to his chest, feeling her arms wrap around him in response. "You're doing amazing."

"N-no…" Leni sniffed. "You're the amazing one, Linky. Y-you're so much braver than I am… you're my baby brother, you know? I-I'm supposed to be the one that's there for you. Not…" Leni squeezed him tighter, as though she were afraid he might disappear too. "Not the other way around."

"You've _been_ there for me, Leni." Lincoln smiled sadly at the teen in his arms. "If you weren't here… I don't think I'd be able to hold it together like this." Leni sniffled again, but didn't immediately respond. "Now, come on… I think there's a certain little girl that needs you right now."

Leni gasped as the realization hit her. "Lola!" She'd been so caught up with Lucy that she'd nearly forgotten about the girl; she let Lincoln help her to her feet, wiping away the last of her tears with the back of her hand. "T-thank you, Linky." She muttered.

"We're in this together, Leni." Lincoln offered her his hand, which she gladly accepted. Leni gave a small smile and bent over, planting a small kiss on his forehead.

"I know we are."

* * *

The two siblings returned to the hallway to find Lola still huddled against the wall, her eyes red and puffy from crying; she barely seemed to acknowledge them until Leni picked her up.

"Leniiii…" The little princess clung tightly to her big sister, whining softly into her chest. She'd long since run out of tears.

"It's okay, sweetie…" Leni stroked her back softly to reassure her, sitting down with the little girl in her arms. "Leni's here now."

"I want Luna..." Lola mumbled softly. Leni's smile only faltered briefly before returning in full force.

"Don't worry, Lola. Lisa will totes save her~" Leni planted a kiss on the top of her sister's head, which seemed to settle her somewhat. "I may not be as good as Luna, but… would you like me to sing for you?" Lola gave a small nod. Leni cleared her throat before humming softly; Lincoln recognized the tune as _You Are My Sunshine,_ and wondered if Leni had chosen it on purpose. Soon, she began to sing, and Lincoln had to admit… she may not be a singer like Luna, but her light, sweet voice was remarkably soothing. Before long, Lola was fast asleep, and even Lincoln could feel his eyelids growing heavy…

"Brother." A lisping voice snapped him out of his daze. He looked up to see Lisa peering out from her room. She looked exhausted, with the heavy bags under her eyes magnified by her thick glasses. "I require your assistance," She said before darting back into her room. He exchanged a glance with Leni, who gave him an encouraging smile and a nod. He groaned as he got to his feet. He would have liked to hear more of Leni's singing, but in all honesty he was kind of glad for the distraction… he thought it best to stay awake and alert for the time being.

Lincoln entered Lisa's room to find her typing away at a computer with remarkable speed, her fingers flying as incredibly complex character strings flew by before Lincoln could even begin to comprehend what he was looking at. Many of the devices from before were still active, doing God-knows what… it never ceased to amaze him just how far above them Lisa stood, at least in terms of intellect.

"W-what's up, Lisa?"

"Working," The prodigy said flatly. "I need you to move Lily's crib for me, if you would be so kind." Lincoln looked over at the crib, which had been pushed against the back wall to maximize Lisa's floor space, and his blood ran cold; the far corners of the room were unnaturally dim.

The darkness had already reached the second floor.

"Oh, no…" Lincoln gasped as he hurried over to the crib. Lily was still sleeping, blissfully unaware of her situation; she rolled onto her side as Lincoln pushed the crib to the closest corner of the room, behind the door.

"Yes, it would seem that the darkness spreads faster over time." Lisa sounded alarmingly calm, all things considered… but Lincoln knew that she was simply focused. "An unfortunate oversight on my part."

"A-are you going to have enough time?" Lincoln couldn't hide the fear in his voice. He trusted Lisa's abilities, but this was far more of a ticking clock than he felt comfortable with.

"…I don't know." Lisa muttered, making Lincoln's heart sink into his stomach. "I'm getting close, but I'm farther than I'd care to be."

"How close?"

Lisa sighed in thinly-veiled irritation. "I can get us back to our universe."

Lincoln's face lit up. "Then-"

" _But,_ " Lisa continued, "There's more to it than that. The prototype U.T.S. was-"

"U.T.S.?"

"Universal Tunnel System. Don't interrupt." Lisa grumbled, and Lincoln bowed his head sheepishly. "Anyway, it essentially opened a doorway between universes. If you were to use it in your room at 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon, you would arrive in your room at 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon in another universe. You understand?"

"Yeah… I guess that makes sense." Lincoln nodded in understanding.

"Yes, well, as I said before… we are _outside_ space-time." Lisa continued, still typing away at her computer; her pupils rapidly flicked across the text as it flew by, apparently having little issue keeping up with it. "Meaning that the entire transport system needed to be overhauled. I could take us back to our universe, yes… but we could wind up anywhere, at any point in time. We could arrive on another planet, or in the prehistoric era, or _inside_ of a brick wall. I'm sure I don't need to explain to you why that would be a bad thing."

"Well, I dunno…" Lincoln mumbled, rubbing his chin in thought. "Getting to see some dinosaurs would be pretty rad." Lisa just rolled her eyes.

"In any case, I've managed to get the _when_ more or less locked down… give or take a few days." Lisa sighed. "The problem is the _where_. As of right now, it would be a miracle if we even ended up in the right solar system."

"O-oh…" Lincoln frowned. "So do you think-"

"I'm trying my hardest, Lincoln." Lisa huffed. "Now, please go. I'll gather the six of you when-"

"Five."

Lisa froze, the _click-clack_ of her keyboard coming to an abrupt stop. For a moment, she didn't say anything. "…Who?"

"L-Luna." Lincoln said quietly, hanging his head sadly. A dreary silence overtook the room, save for the beeps and whirrs from Lisa's equipment; he thought it best not to explain the circumstances of Luna's fate to the girl.

"…I see." Lisa said quietly as she resumed her work.

Lincoln stared down at the floor, fidgeting awkwardly. "Hey, Lisa…" He began a bit nervously; quite frankly, he was scared to hear the answer. Still, he had to know. "Before… you wouldn't say that the others were dead. Do you…" Lincoln swallowed. "Do you think that-"

"You're asking if I can save them," Lisa finished for him. Lincoln nodded, before realizing she couldn't see him.

"Yeah."

Lisa frowned slightly. She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Before I can think about that, I need to get us home. That is all I will say on the matter."

Lincoln sighed. _At least it wasn't a no,_ he thought. "A-alright. I'll leave you to it, then." With that, he walked to the door.

"Lincoln, wait."

"Yeah…?" Lincoln asked. Lisa hopped down from her chair, walked over to him, and hugged him tight around the midsection. Lincoln's eyes widened a bit in surprise; displays of affection from the little girl were extremely rare. A small smile crossed his face and he returned the embrace. Holding her like this reminded him just how small she really was, and he couldn't help but feel angry at how unfair it was. Someone so young shouldn't have to carry such a huge burden.

Lisa broke the hug, and Lincoln could hear a quiet sniffle as she pulled away from him. "Right, well…" She muttered, clearing her throat. "Back to work." Lisa hurried back to her computer, and Lincoln returned to the hallway.

"Is everything okay?" Leni asked a bit nervously. Lincoln nodded and sat down beside her.

"She's nearly got it figured out," Lincoln said. It wasn't a complete lie, at least.

* * *

For some time, things were quiet. Well, _mostly_ quiet… Lola had sprawled out across both their laps, and was snoring loudly; the little girl was drooling onto Leni's nightgown, but she didn't seem to mind. Leni looked down at the girl with a wistful smile on her face as she gently stroked her hair.

"She looks so peaceful," Lincoln stated. Leni nodded before laying her head on Lincoln's shoulder. He wasn't sure how long they'd been there; it could have been minutes, it could have been hours. It felt as though his very perception of time had been warped… he instinctively looked up at the wall clock in some vain hope that it may have changed, but of course it simply remained locked at 1:35. Lincoln sighed and tilted his head to rest against Leni's.

This whole thing was a nightmare. As much as he'd managed to keep it together so far, he couldn't help but wonder how much longer he could keep it up. He loved his sisters above all else, and even if Lisa could bring them back he had, for all intents and purposes, lost several of them. Luna's disappearance weighed on his heart the heaviest, and the image of her shocked expression before she was lost to the darkness was burned into his brain. He could only hope that, whatever happened to them, they weren't in pain.

"Lincoln?" Leni spoke softly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

Leni frowned, mulling over her words. "For everything," She said at last. "Every time we've fought, every time I was unfair to you, every time I hurt you… I'm sorry for all of it."

Lincoln's brow furrowed slightly. Out of all his sisters, Leni was probably the one he had squabbled with the least; save for Lily, of course. "You never hurt me, Leni."

"I totes have." Leni sighed softly. "I thought you were bad luck, I've kicked you out of your own room, and… and all the times I forgot your name…" Leni bit her lip slightly. "I never really did, Linky. I just… things get mixed up in my head sometimes…"

"I know." Lincoln assured her, taking her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Besides… it's not like I've been a saint either, y'know? I've done a lot of bad things too. Remember when everyone had the flu, and I tried to abandon them?"

"But you changed your mind," Leni retorted. "I kicked you out of the pool you bought with your own money-"

"And I didn't want to share it, remember?" Lincoln interjected. "Besides, you offered to let me join you."

"I made you wear a dress. Like, a _bunch_ of times…"

"I never minded helping you out," Lincoln reminded her. "I posted embarrassing videos of you on the internet without permission."

"I-I…" Leni pouted. "I stole the sandwich you left in the fridge…"

"Wait, that was _you?!_ "

Leni sheepishly looked away as Lincoln glared at her. Then, they both began to snicker quietly. "This is silly, Linky." Leni said.

"Y-yeah… it is." Lincoln muttered between chuckles. "Let's just say that we both forgive each other, okay?"

Leni nodded, snuggling against his side once more. Silence washed over them again, until Leni spoke. "I just… I wish I'd apologized to everyone…"

Lincoln frowned sadly. "Leni… do you remember when great-grandpa passed away?"

"Of course." Leni said softly. "Why?"

"Well… I was pretty upset about it at the time." Lincoln sighed. "He'd been so old that I just… never really gave him the time of day. I never even _tried_ to really get to know him. Heck... I don't think I ever once told him I loved him. So when he died, I felt guilty. But then dad told me something."

"What?"

"He told me I shouldn't worry about that," Lincoln explained. "You never know what the future holds, and you can't blame yourself for the things you never had the chance to do… otherwise you'll end up forgetting the _good_ times you had."

Leni seemed to consider this for a moment. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the silence was broken by a loud shriek of terror from Leni's room. Both siblings nearly jumped out of their skin, and Lola was roused from her slumber.

"W-wuzzat…?!" The little girl drowsily mumbled.

" _Lucy._ " Lincoln's voice came out as a quiet gasp, and he quickly scrambled to his feet and ran to the door. Just before he could grip the doorknob, the door swung open and Lucy barreled roughly into his chest. Lucy cried out from the sharp pain that coursed through her body, but she was too frightened to care much about it. Thankfully, Lincoln managed to keep from toppling over, and he wrapped his arms around her gently. "L-Lucy, what's wrong?! Are you alright?!"

Lucy managed a small nod, and raised a trembling hand to point into the room. The sight before them chilled him to the bone. "Oh, no…" He rasped out, his eyes wide.

"Linky, what's wro-" Leni gasped as she looked into the room; half of the room was completely gone to the darkness. What more, it was spreading quickly enough to be perceptible to the naked eye, slowly creeping its way along like a thick, viscous ooze.

If Lucy hadn't woken up, she may have been gone in a matter of minutes. Leni swallowed the lump in her throat before embracing the frightened goth as well. "L-Lucy, it's okay… it's okay, you're safe now."

"I hate it," Lucy whimpered into her brother's chest. "T-the darkness… I hate it. I _hate_ it!"

"We know, Lucy…" Lincoln said soothingly. "It's going to be okay. Lisa's almost done with her universe thing… we're gonna make it out of this, I promise." He could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and hear her rapid breathing…

 _Wait,_ Lincoln realized. _That's not Lucy._ He looked over to the source of the noise; Lola was staring with wide-eyed horror into the encroaching darkness, her tiny body heaving with each breath as she began to panic.

"Lola…?" Leni said quietly, the concern evident in her eyes as she knelt beside her sister, placing a hand on the little girl's back. "Lola, it's going to be-"

" _NO!_ " Lola screamed at the top of her lungs, batting away Leni's hand.

"Lola, please, calm down!" Leni pleaded, grabbing the girl's shoulders. Lola was hyperventilating so hard that Leni thought she may pass out; however, Lola simply broke free from her big sister's grip and pushed past her, running down the hall to Lisa's room.

"Lola, _wait!_ " Lincoln called after her, to no avail. As she disappeared into the prodigy's room, Lincoln cursed under his breath and ran after her, Lucy and Leni in tow.

* * *

" _Lisa!_ " Lola cried as she burst into her younger sister's room.

"I _know!_ " Lisa was furiously pounding away at her keyboard. The far side of the room was already gone to the darkness, though it had yet to spread as far as it had in Leni's room. "I'm nearly there, I just need a bit more time!"

"No… _NO!_ " Lola screeched. "We have to leave _now!_ "

" _Ten minutes!_ " Lisa snapped back. "I can have this done in _ten minutes!_ " Lola's heart was racing; her eyes frantically darted between her sister and the darkness. _Ten minutes?!_ She thought, as sweat began to drip down her forehead. _We don't HAVE ten minutes!_ With each passing moment, the darkness loomed closer and closer.

"Lola!" Lincoln appeared in the doorway, but she paid him no mind. Her eyes flicked towards Lisa's computer, then followed the cables leading to a large device nearby. It looked cobbled-together, as if it had been assembled in a hurry, and atop it sat something that looked almost like a radar dish pointed straight up. There was a panel lit up with a large red button off to the side, and a key already turned to the 'ON' position; it was clearly powered up and ready to go.

Lola bolted for the device, but Lisa immediately sprung from her chair and blocked her. " _Stop!_ Do not touch that button, Lola!"

" _Move!_ " Lola tried to force her way past her sister, and soon the two were grappling on the ground. Lincoln ran forward and pulled Lola off of her little sister, barely able to restrain her as she screamed and thrashed with all with all her might. Her shrill voice was loud enough to even pierce through Lily's earmuffs, and the infant began to cry in her crib.

"Lola, that's enough!" Lincoln shouted at the flailing girl in his arms. Lisa got up and dusted herself off, readjusting her glasses.

"Thank you, brother." Lisa grumbled, the irritation clear in her voice. "Please hold on to her. We have precious little time as it is, and the last thing we need right now is an _irrational child_ throwing a fit!" With an aggravated huff, Lisa climbed back into her chair and resumed her work.

"L-listen to her, Lola!" Leni begged her sister in a gentle voice. "Lisa totes knows what she's doing. You need to calm down… we're going to be okay!" Lola turned her head to look at her sister; she took several deep breaths, and it seemed she was beginning to relax a bit.

But then she looked back at the darkness.

In the brief time since she'd entered the room, the darkness had only grown closer… now it was touching the very end of Lisa's desk. It was only moving a few centimeters every minute, but to the terrified princess it may as well have been a hundred miles an hour. "N-no…" She whined, hot tears beginning to flow from her eyes. "No, no no no no no _NO!_ Let me _go!_ " Lola began to struggle again, kicking and screaming in her brother's arms. " _I don't want to die!_ " She sobbed, in complete hysterics.

"D-damn it, Lola, you need to…" Lincoln winced as her heel struck his knee. "Leni, help m- _OW!_ " Lincoln cried out in pain as Lola bit deep into his arm, forcing him to loosen his grip. She broke free and made a dash for the device. " _Lola, NO!_ "

Lisa turned from her computer, only to see Lola mere feet away; a look of horror crossed her face as she dove for her sister, desperate to stop her. Leni and Lucy watched from the doorway in shock, and Lincoln knew there was nothing he could do. He wanted to sprint after the little girl, he wanted to _save_ her from what she was about to do, but there would be no time. Gritting his teeth, he spun around and tackled Leni and Lucy out of the room just as the princess's hand slammed down on the button.

A blinding flash filled the room in an instant, accompanied by a thundering _BOOM_ that made the entire house shake. Lincoln could feel a rush of air shoot past him before he even touched the ground. The three landed in a heap, Lucy screaming in pain as her broken arm struck the ground hard. Then, just as quickly as it had began, it was over… the silence was deafening. All three of the siblings lay sprawled out on the ground, panting heavily with racing hearts.

"A-are you two alright…?" Lincoln asked.

"I… I think so…" Lucy hissed, clutching her aching forearm.

"Like… what happened?" Leni groaned as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I…" Lincoln swallowed as he looked back at the room; the door had been blown completely off its hinges. "I don't know." Lincoln struggled unsteadily to his feet, still wobbly from the explosion. As he staggered towards the room, he realized something that chilled him to the bone:

He couldn't hear Lily crying.

Peering into the room, he saw… nobody. No Lisa. No Lola. Lily's crib had caved in from the door crashing into it, but he could see enough to determine that it was empty. In the corner of the room, the device stood smoldering, small wisps of smoke escaping through its destroyed frame.

Lincoln felt as though he was going to vomit. He stumbled back, falling onto his rear end; that had been their only chance. There was nothing else they could do.

"Linky…?" He felt Leni's gentle hand on his shoulder. "W-what happened…?!" Slowly, he turned to look at her, and Leni's blood ran cold. The look of utter despair on his face told her everything she needed to know.

"W-we were so close, Leni…" Lincoln whispered, his eyes beginning to brim with tears. "We were so _close…!_ " His big sister searched his eyes for something, _any_ shred of hope that things would be okay… but there were none.

Lincoln had given up.

Leni's arms dropped to her sides. Lincoln turned away as her face contorted in agony. He wouldn't look at her as she let out her first choked sob, nor when he began openly wailing. Soon, she was simply screaming at the top of her lungs, finally letting out every bit of emotion she'd been holding back: her fear, her anger, and her sorrow. Even as she threw herself to the ground, tugging furiously at her own hair in despair, Lincoln couldn't think of anything to say to her. There was no point.

As he heard Lucy's quiet, dry sobs from behind him, Lincoln could only pray that the other three had made it somewhere safe.

* * *

The first thing to hit Lisa was the unpleasant sensation of her lungs collapsing in on themselves as all the air was forced from her body.

 _One second._

She could feel her skin rapidly swelling. Her entire body felt unusual… as if it were both hot and cold, and as though she were being both stretched outward and sucked inward at the same time.

 _Two seconds._

At first, Lisa thought she had been overtaken by the darkness; all she could see was an endless black void before her.

 _Three seconds._

Then, she noticed them: tiny pinpricks of white light dotting the blackness. She also became aware that she was weightless.

 _Four seconds._

Lisa noticed the white dots appeared to be moving… correction, _she_ was moving, slowly rotating in place.

 _Five seconds._

Something enters the corner of her vision. It couldn't be...

 _Six seconds._

There it was.

The most beautiful sight Lisa had ever seen… the planet Earth, both so close and yet so far away, like a brilliant blue-and-green marble.

She'd taken them home.

 _Seven seconds._

She took in every detail… every landmass, every ocean, every cloud. Lisa had always wanted to see this for herself, and though she wished the circumstances were different, she was nonetheless awestruck. A single tear instantly turned to vapor on her cheek.

 _Eight seconds._

Lisa found herself turning away. Her glasses began to drift away from her face, and she regretted not opting to wear goggles tonight.

 _Nine seconds._

Without her glasses, Lisa could only faintly make out a pink shape floating away from her, and a smaller peach-colored blur not far behind. Despite what had happened, she felt no malice towards her sister… she could only take small solace in the knowledge that they wouldn't suffer long. If nothing else, Lisa at least preferred that this was a fate she could _understand._

 _Ten seconds._

Even as little more than blurs in the distance, she couldn't bear to see them any longer. Lisa squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable.

 _Eleven seconds._

 _Twelve seconds._

 _Thirteen seconds._

Lisa felt a warmth across the front of her body… correction, a searing heat. Lisa was grateful that the shock had numbed her sensations… she could only imagine that under different circumstances, this would be highly painful. She knew she shouldn't look at it directly, but she supposed it hardly mattered at this point. Lisa opened her eyes.

 _Fourteen seconds._

In the distance was a brilliant, blinding spot of light; like a great ball of flame suspended in midair. Its heat burned Lisa's skin, but she didn't care… as her eyes closed one last time, she could only think one thing:

 _The sun is nice today._

 _Fifteen seconds._

* * *

Lincoln looked on as the ends of the hallway began to darken. The darkness was closing in, and fast; Leni and Lucy were huddled against him, tearfully awaiting their demise.

Lincoln couldn't bear it.

"The attic." Lincoln's voice had been so quiet that his sisters barely heard it. "We… we have to get to the attic." Lincoln clarified.

Leni sniffled. "What would that do?" Her voice was incredibly hoarse; she sounded broken. Lincoln frowned.

"I don't know. But… it's all we've got." He knew it wouldn't really make a difference… their fates were sealed either way.

But he wouldn't go down without a fight, either.

"Come on," He said, pulling Lucy to her feet, followed by Leni. "This isn't over yet." The two girls gave half-hearted nods. Even if it was hopeless, they had to at least _try…_ if nothing else, they'd at least be buying themselves a few extra minutes together.

"T-thank you, Linky…" Leni muttered, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Lincoln forced a smile for her, and she couldn't help but give a small one in return.

As Leni pulled open the attic door, they were relieved to find that it was still untouched by the darkness. But before they could head up, the silence was broken by a scream of terror from Luna and Luan's room, a scream that chilled their blood:

They had completely forgotten about Lynn.

" _Lynn!_ " Lucy gasped, grabbing Lincoln's arm. "W-we have to go back for her…!"

"W-we'd never made it back in time…" Lincoln muttered.

Leni stood trembling, biting her lip as she turned towards the end of the hall. The darkness was closing in, but it wasn't quite there yet… she could still see the bathroom door faintly, and if Lynn was still able to scream, there was still time. "I'll…" Leni stammered. "I'll go."

Lincoln's brow furrowed. "L-Leni-"

"I'm going!" She said again, with more determination in her voice. "Get to the attic… I'll be back in a minute!"

"Leni!"

" _GO!_ " Leni ordered as she sprinted down the hallway. Lincoln clenched his teeth and helped Lucy up the ladder. There was nothing else he could do.

Lynn cried out in fear as the darkness inched closer and closer. "No, noooo…!" She sobbed as she desperately pulled at her handcuffs, even as the metal painfully dug into her wrist. The darkness was within six feet of her when Leni finally ran into the room. "L-Leniiii!" Lynn whimpered as she saw her older sister. "The cuffs…"

"Lynn!" Leni cried as she rushed to her sister's aid. "H-hang on, I'll get you… oh, no…" Leni clasped a hand over her mouth as she realized she had never grabbed the _key._ It was still in the closet… lost to the darkness. "T-the key… oh God, Lynn…"

Lynn's breath hitched in her throat. "Y-you… you have it, right…?" Leni looked down at her sister with tears in her eyes. "Please… please tell me you have it…!" Lynn pleaded, her voice cracking as she futilely strained against her bonds. Leni looked over at the door. She had no time… there was nothing she could do for Lynn. If she were to have a chance, she'd have to leave… _now._

She only considered it for a brief moment.

Any thoughts of abandoning the girl were immediately overpowered by the athlete's pathetic sobbing; when Leni looked at Lynn, she didn't see the violent thug that had attacked Lucy. She didn't see the stubborn brat that had cruelly insulted her. Leni saw only a terrified child.

Her baby sister.

Leni immediately dropped to her knees and scooped Lynn up into her arms. "It's okay, sweetie," She cooed softly. "Big sis is here… big sis is with you."

"L-Leni…" Lynn bawled against her sister's chest. "I-I'm sorry, I-" Lynn's words came out in choked bursts between hysterical sobs. "I never… meant… a-any of it…! I-I love you, and I-I-I…"

"Ssshhh… I know, baby. I know." Leni wore a motherly smile as she cradled her sister close in her arms. "I forgive you. We all do…"

"I-I'm scared…"

"Don't be." Leni planted a kiss on the girl's head. "Because… because this is all just a bad dream. Tomorrow you'll wake up, and everything will be fine."

Lynn sniffled. "Really…?" She knew Leni was lying… perhaps trying to convince herself just as much as her. And yet, Lynn could only feel slightly reassured by her big sister's words.

"Totes," Leni giggled. The darkness was barely a foot away now, but she paid it no mind… Lynn needed her. "Now, no more tears… how about I sing you a song?"

Lynn sniffed again, wiping her eyes against her sleeve. "I'd… I'd like that." She said, forcing a small, sad smile.

* * *

As the darkness overtook the hallway, Lincoln sadly pulled the attic door shut and joined Lucy in the center. "I guess it's, uh… I guess it's just us." Lincoln muttered quietly. Lucy gave a small nod of understanding. Lincoln slumped to the ground beside her, and for some time neither said anything.

"…Lincoln," Lucy began in a hoarse whisper. "You don't need to pretend anymore."

Lincoln nodded, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. "I know," He choked out as tears began to stream down his face. Lincoln buried his face in his knees and let everything out; Lucy simply held her brother as he cried.

The corners of the room began to darken, and Lucy clutched him tighter. It was a small comfort to have him there with her… at least they wouldn't die alone. She could feel Lincoln lean into her and pull her tightly against him. There was so much she could say… so much she _wanted_ to say. But right now, she couldn't find the words. She and her brother simply squeezed their eyes shut and waited for the end.

The first thing Lucy noticed was the sudden silence that overtook her. It was as though all sound was simply sucked out of the room… she couldn't even hear her brother's breaths.

She couldn't hear her _own_ breaths.

Lucy opened her eyes a crack, seeing nothing but darkness surrounding her. She couldn't even see Lincoln mere inches in front of her… but she could _feel_ him, thankfully.

The next thing Lucy noticed was just how _empty_ everything felt. There was no wind, no air flow of any kind… she couldn't even feel her breath escaping her lips.

Wait… _was_ she breathing?

Lucy's heart rate increased… or at least, she _thought_ it did. In truth, she couldn't feel it, nor could she hear it. The subtle sounds and sensations from within her body were gone. No faint creaking of bone in her neck as she turned her head, no flexing tendons when she curled her fingers; in fact, she couldn't feel anything at all.

She couldn't feel Lincoln in her arms.

" _Lincoln?!_ " Lucy cried out, or at least tried to… there was no sound, no sensation of her facial muscles flexing. There was just… nothing. No sound, no sight, no smell, no feeling. Lucy couldn't even feel the ground beneath her. She began to panic, and thought for sure she must be dying; but then why was she still alive?

 _Was_ she alive?

She was aware, at least, but her sense of _being_ was non-existent. She could perceive nothing beyond her own consciousness. She couldn't even hear her own thoughts… it was as though she were simply _aware_ of them. She felt nothing. She saw nothing. She heard nothing. She smelled nothing. She tasted nothing. She was alone.

Finally, she began to understand. _This_ was true darkness… not the absence of light, but the absence of _all._

True darkness was nothingness.

Lucy wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She could do nothing but despair; all around her was a pitch-black, endless void. She had, quite literally, condemned her family to death… for nothing.

And yet, there was _something_. A presence among the void… something she couldn't quite _feel,_ yet was distinctly aware of. It surrounded her, endless and unyielding, as vast as the darkness itself; perhaps it _was_ the darkness. All she knew is that whatever it was, it had always been… and would always continue to be.

"Please…" She tried to ask. "Please… I want this to end…" For a moment, there was nothing. And then, she felt the darkness respond; she didn't hear it, nor see it, nor even think it. It was simply as if the words were being etched into her very core.

 _You sought this, did you not?_

"I-I didn't know… please, I never meant for any of this to happen… I just want everything to go back to normal! I just want my family!"

 _You will never see them again._

The certainty of the being's words sent another wave of despair through Lucy's mind. "They had nothing to do with this! They're _innocent!_ This is all _my_ fault, so please…!"

 _You have what you wanted. You paid the price. You will never see them again._

"This _isn't_ what I wanted! A-all I want… all I've _ever_ wanted is my family! I-I don't care what happens to me, but _please…_ " Lucy pleaded with the entity. "Please bring them back... I'll do anything…" For some time, the darkness did not respond. Finally, she felt it again, burning its way into her mind.

 _Anything?_

"Y-yes. Anything." Again, there was no response. Lucy waited with bated breath, or at least the closest thing to it that she could manage; and then, it struck her all at once. _Pain._ Pure, searing, torturous pain. But this pain was not physical… rather, it felt as though her entire essence was being stripped away from her. It was more agonizing than anything she had ever experienced. Even if she had a body, she wouldn't have been able to scream.

 _You will never see them again._

Lucy could barely perceive the darkness' words. She could barely perceive anything at all. There was only the excruciating torment of her soul being ripped apart.

And then, nothing.


	5. Epilogue - Rebirth

Lincoln began to stir as a warm beam of light from his window settled on his face. He groaned, turning away onto his side. It was too early for this.

Wait… what time _was_ it?

Lincoln rolled back over and took a look at his clock. 8:45 AM. Lincoln grumbled under his breath as he flopped onto his back; for some reason, he didn't feel rested at all. What more, his entire body ached terribly. He felt as though he had run an Olympic marathon.

The white-haired boy shut his eyes and tried to fall back asleep, but he couldn't. He could already hear the twins arguing in the hallway, and the electric wail of Luna's guitar filling the air… and a moment later, an explosion from Lisa's room that rattled the small closet Lincoln called home. He sighed in resignation; when you lived with ten sisters, you rarely had the opportunity to sleep in.

Hang on… _ten?_

Lincoln frowned, sucking his teeth in thought. _That couldn't be right,_ he thought. With a grunt of discomfort, Lincoln managed to turn himself and sit on the side of his bed. He rubbed the sleep from his groggy eyes and took a glance over at his family photo. It was the same as ever… there was Luna, rocking out as per usual. Luan, cheerfully holding a giggling Lily. Lori and Leni standing together with bright smiles on their faces. Lola, Lana, Lynn… even Lisa had a rare smile on her face. And of course, right in the center stood Lincoln himself. Ten kids total… nine sisters. Just as it always had been.

…So why did that make Lincoln feel sad?

Lincoln shrugged it off, chalking the error up to his tiredness. His body cried out in protest as he slid out of bed, and he pushed his palms into his lower back and leaned back, feeling a few satisfying _pops_ in his spine. He was exhausted, but he figured some coffee would fix that… he hated the stuff, but at least it would wake him up.

Although, come to think of it… he'd never actually tasted coffee before, right?

Lincoln's brow furrowed in thought. He could have sworn he _had_ at some point, but his mind was drawing a blank. _Oh well,_ he thought. There was no use dwelling on it… today was a big day, after all. Tonight was the season finale of 'ARGGH!', his favorite show… and he wasn't going to miss it for the world.

So, ignoring the strange sense of déjà vu that washed over him, Lincoln began getting dressed for the day. After all, with nine sisters fighting for the remote, he'd need to start planning _now_ if he wanted to watch in peace.

Though he wasn't sure what compelled him to do so, Lincoln made sure to hug each of his sisters before heading downstairs for breakfast. After all... you never know when you may lose the chance.

THE END

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Well, that's that. Thanks to everyone for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! As always, comments and critique are greatly appreciated, and a huge thank you to everyone who's reviewed it so far.**

 **I've noticed that this story gets less views and attention than my other works. I'm not sure if it's due to the genre or what, just thought it was a bit odd. In any case, it's my favorite out of my fics so far, and I enjoyed writing it. Perhaps I'll return to the horror genre at some point, but this story at least has reached its end.**

 **So what's next? Well, 'More than a Sister' is still in progress, and I have at least one one-shot planned. Other than that, I have one other long multi-chapter story in mind, starring a certain neurotic child of sin...**

 **UPDATE: It's come to my attention that The Shadow Reader has been doing a dramatic reading of this on youtube. I was not initially credited, and it was uploaded under the title "The Darkness" as opposed to its proper title. I've reached out and the user has at least added By:Trillhouse to the title, so if you're interested go ahead and check it out. For the future, I do not mind dramatic readings of my works as long as I am properly credited. Thank you!**


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